Light the Way
by lunarglow
Summary: Everyone else seems to have moved on. Two years ago, the love of my life went missing. When you lose a large part of your heart, is it possible to return to a normal life? That night still haunts my dreams. This is my story. My name is Bella Swan.
1. Introduction

**Disclaimer: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own Twilight. :(**

Introduction

"Bella, run!"

The cloaked man snarled and lunged at Edward.

I turned around and started sprinting into the cover of the trees. I ran in a straight line, hoping I would find a way out and reach my truck. I stopped for a minute, holding onto a tree, and then started running again. I ran with tears falling down my face, making it hard to see clearly in the already dark forest. He had to be okay. I just sobbed even more, pleading that he be okay.

I tripped over something and went sprawling. I leapt up and started stumbling around the forest before I saw an opening. I sobbed as I finally reached my truck and opened it with the keys in my pocket.

I slammed the door as quick as possible, locked the up the truck and crawled into a ball on the floor. He had to be okay. He had to.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish upon a star I am not Stephenie Meyer. I guess that means I do not own Twilight.**** :(**

Chapter One:

A loud horn jilted me awake. I pulled myself into a tighter ball and pulled the covers over my head, hoping to hide from the world. This was the third night in a row that I had dreamt about that night. I felt like such a mess. My life could never be whole again. I lay there for a good long time before I got up and went to face the world.

"Oh my god! Bella that top looks really….um lovely on you today," Lauren said.

"Oh thanks," I replied distracted.

Lauren and I have been friends for awhile now. I mean I loved her but sometimes she can be a real…bitch.

"Oh Bella, I'm so embarrassed to be seen with you! I don't understand why you don't come shopping with me and Jessica!" Lauren ranted.

"Uh huh," I replied pretending to be not paying attention. Lauren was always saying stuff like this to me on a daily basis. Lauren couldn't survive a day without telling me my flaws. I wasn't offended anymore, just used to it.

"Give up Lauren, Bella will always be an eyesore. But that's why we love her!" Jessica exclaimed.

"I suppose you're right. Anyway so did you guys hear? There is a new student today!" Lauren informed.

"I saw him. His name is Jared and he looked pretty hot. Maybe it's time he met me," Lauren said smiling as we left the cafeteria. "And whatever I want I get. No guy is too out of reach for me. Isn't that right Bella?"

"Yah," I replied, I was so tired from my lack of sleep that I wasn't really paying attention. Lauren was right on one count. Whatever she wanted, she got, no matter what.

I had to stop at my locker before I went to my fifth period class, study hall. I was coming into class a little late so I was running as fast I could when right as I rounded the doorway, I collided with someone.

"Oh sorry!" I apologized as I dropped down to collect my things. A pale hand extended to me with my pencil bag enclosed in it. I looked up and found the most intriguing pair of violet eyes looking at me.

"Are you okay?" they asked as he extended his other hand to help me up.

"Um yah thanks," I answered and got myself up. I gasped as I lifted my gaze. This guy looked so much like _him_.

"My name's Jared. I just moved here,"

"I'm Bella, nice to meet you," I muttered still mortified. I couldn't keep my eyes off this guy. He could have passed for Edward. Was I the only one seeing this?

"People! Take a seat!"Mr. Hamilton demanded coming into the room. Jared and I all went to the last empty group of seats in the back. I grabbed my old cd player out of my backpack and turned it on, getting lost in the music. I drifted off, dreaming of nothing. I woke up to someone nudging me. I looked up to see everyone leaving. Jared said something but my music was turned up so I couldn't make out a word.

"Sorry I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I asked what class you have next period."

"Oh sorry. I have Biology,"

"And after that?"

"Gym," I responded with a scowl. When a person tended to trip at least twice a week gym was not your favorite class.

"I have those next as well. Let me walk you to both,"

"Isn't the new student supposed to be escorted around? Not the new student escorting other people around?"

Jared's chuckle was like music to my ears.

"Count it as my apology for earlier. So yes?"

"Sure," I replied. He must really believe that my falling was his fault. I was making quite the first impression.

We ended up asking each other questions the rest of the period. He had just moved here from Alaska. He liked the same kind of music I did. He even played the guitar.

When the bell rang we kept on talking until we reached Biology. I went to go sit down at my usual spot. Lauren and Jess were in this class too but always chose each other as lab partners so they sat together. I was seated in the front of the room by myself since I usually didn't have a partner. Lauren's eyes bulged out as she saw Jared and me walk into the room together

I sat down in my spot internally ecstatic that the only empty spot was next to me. After getting the Biology teacher, Mr. Banner, to sign a slip Jared came over and sat down next to me.

All the girls in the class started to give me death glares as they realized my luck. I could still feel their stares as Mr. Banner tried to get class started.

"Okay class, settle down. Today you'll just be answering introductory questions for a lab you will be doing tomorrow. Pick your partners so you may begin. The questions are here on my desk so come grab one for both you and my partner and begin,"

I was trying to find a pencil in my bag when Jared handed me a paper.

"Will you be my partner?"

"Uh sure," I replied. I was surprised that he wanted to be my partner. I was so used to working alone. Hot guys like Jared usually were partners with girls like-

"Hi I'm Lauren,"

Great. Of course Lauren had to make herself known. She stood there in her very short jean skirt and low cut top, leaning over the lab table so that Jared and I had a perfect view of her "Goods". Ahem. Apparently Lauren wasn't kidding about meeting Jared. She had changed her top last period so that she could show Jared what he was missing. I had to admit that when Lauren wanted something, she laid all her cards on the line.

"Hello I'm Jared,"

"Do you wanna be partners?"

Jared glanced briefly at me and I waited for him to say that he was sorry but he wanted to be partners with Lauren. My time was up.

"Actually I had already asked Bella to be my partner, sorry though,"

Whoa what? I looked up at him in total shock. I was scared to look at Lauren, knowing all too well that she was pissed off and ready to explode. A full moment passed by before she was even able to say anything.

"That's okay. Next time then," she said using her seductive voice, winked and _sashayed_ away. The girl has guts.

"If you want to work with her, I don't mind. I understand you might want to get to know more people," I explained, already detaching myself from the situation.

Jared gave me a curious look that I couldn't interpret.

"Nonsense, that would be rude. Besides," he paused to look at me with those violet eyes. "I want you as my partner," He then smiled the cutest crooked smile that made my heart ache and skip a couple of beats.

Determined not to let him notice the blush building up I looked around the room casually. Lauren was full on glaring at me. I turned back around and tried to focus on the book work but I knew that there was no escaping the trouble ahead.

Jared and I kept asking each other questions, though not as many as before because we had to look up answers in the book.

The bell rang and we turned in our packets. Jared walked with me to the gym.

"Ugh!" I complained as we walked in.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't like gym. As you found out earlier, I am very clumsy. I am not the best at sports because I fall a lot. Worse is that I think we're doing tennis today. I hurt myself a lot but I'm lethal with a racquet and a ball. I'll probably kill whoever I get paired up with," I vented.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?"

As it turned out a lot of things went wrong. They never make you dress out your first day so Jared got a front row seat to the massacre that was tennis. Mike Newton was stuck with me as his partner. First I hit him in the head with the ball when I tried to serve. Then I smashed my racquet into his stomach when I tried going for a ball that was close to him. He keeled over in pain as I apologized profusely. I looked over to see Jared trying to muffle a laugh. What could go wrong indeed.

After gym, we said our goodbyes and I got into my truck. I paused before starting the ignition and looked down at the bracelet I was wearing. Edward had given it to me. It was just a simple heart on a chain but ever since he had disappeared I had started wearing it every day. I clutched the heart between my fingers for a couple of minutes, lost in the past.

_I miss you Edward._

**Wow, Lauren is a butt. Review! I'll tell you what happened that night two years ago…Dun dun dun. **


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the fabulous story called Twilight, that would be Stephenie Meyer

Chapter Two:

I woke up to the sound of Charlie yelling my name. So he remembered what today was too. I had been dreading this day for weeks and had tried to avoid it as much as possible. But how can you avoid the anniversary of your boyfriend disappearing, which had happened on your actual anniversary with said boy? As much as I tried to just put those memories in the back of my mind, my dreams have given me a constant reminder. I tried my best just to dress fast and get out of the house before I lost what little control of my tears I had.

I jumped in my truck, drove to school and braced myself for a long day.

The day passed by slowly at school. I found it hard to concentrate on my work and what the teachers were saying. They all sounded like the adults from Charlie Brown.

It was finally lunch after what seemed like ages and I let out a sigh of relief. I was about to start eating what little food I had bought when I saw something that made my heart start beating like crazy. Across the room there were two teachers talking to a boy who had his back to me. But he was wearing a jacket that looked exactly like the one I gave Edward and had the same bushy bronze hair as him.

Something in me broke and I lost all common sense. I found myself jumping out of my chair and running until I reached this man who I then hugged from behind.

"Edward!"

Edward turned around and then I felt myself tearing up. The person I had just hugged from behind wasn't Edward but Jared. I let go of him as though his touch burned me and looked around.

Everyone had witnessed what had just happened and I knew that if I went back to my seat, the silence would just remain. So I turned towards the exit and ran. I wasn't sure where I was going, just as long as it was away from everyone else.

I ended up at the parking lot and decided that ditching school for the rest of the day seemed like a good idea. I slowed down to a walk as I neared my truck. I opened my door, started the engine and was right about to leave when I heard a knock. I looked over to the passenger side to find Jared. I reached over and rolled down the window and leaned out.

"Hey I'm uh sorry about what happened back there," I whispered.

"Its okay, do you mind if I join you in there Bella?" he asked. I nodded and opened the door for him. He got in and closed the door behind him as I turned off the engine, my plan to leave put on hold. "I could feel myself tearing up and didn't know exactly what to with Jared there.

"Listen, I just want to say that I'm there for you. I don't know exactly what happened back there and you don't have to tell me about it. But if you ever need a person to talk to or just a shoulder to cry on I'm here. ," He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you probably want to just ditch school and be alone for awhile so if you ever want some company, I'm available for that too," he said with a small smile.

If you looked up awkward in the dictionary, it would be this moment.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm up to dealing with school today so I'm just going to go home,"

Jared gave me a weird look and sighed.

"Ok well I'll see you tomorrow. Hey, do you want to have lunch tomorrow in my car? I'm sure you want to avoid all the weirdness that went on in the cafeteria so you're welcome to my car as your sanctuary during lunch. Just meet me out here tomorrow and my car is your haven," he offered and started to get out the car. I felt bad; he had been really nice after what had happened.

He was walking away when I called his name.

"At the beginning of lunch?" I asked.

"Yah," he answered, a smile forming. I tried to smile back as I restarted the engine and drove away.

I got home and worked on all of the assignments I had been putting off. I got pretty far before I just didn't feel like it. I put all of my work into my backpack and got out my cd player along with my favorite cd inside. It was the one Edward had made for me, with all of my favorite songs on it. I then lay on my bed, listening to it over and over again, bracing myself for the nightmares that were sure to come tonight of all nights. Eventually I fell asleep.

"Are we there yet?" I asked excitedly.

"No love, not yet," Edward chuckled as I asked for the fifth time. I looked intensely at the forest surrounding us and sighed. I couldn't wait to get to Edward's secret meadow. After dating a whole year he had surprised me this morning with a special trip to his private paradise.

After walking another hundred yards I could see a spot ahead that glowed a brighter color than the rest of the forest. I picked up the pace, my eagerness growing with every step. He let me lead now, following noiselessly.

I reached the light and pulled aside the last of the fencing fern to fully step into the golden halo. I gasped as I fully saw where I was.

The meadow was small, filled with colorful wildflowers and grass that was soft as silk. I could hear the sounds of a stream nearby. I walked further into the meadow that, lit up by the sunlight, looked like a heavenly sanctuary.

A pair of warm arms wrapped around my waist.

"Happy Anniversary," Edward whispered in my ear.

"It's beautiful," I said still awestruck.

"The beauty of this meadow is nothing compared to you," he whispered as he kissed along my jaw. I turned so that I was facing him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I gazed into his emerald green eyes and felt my heart beat faster.

"I love you, "I exclaimed.

"I love you too," he announced and pulled me closer.

My heart skipped a couple of beats as he leaned in and kissed me. At first I just focused on breathing but that was quickly abandoned as I fused myself to him. My hands went to his hair and pulled him closer so that there was no space between us. He tightened his hold on me and my mind fogged up so I couldn't think clearly. We both stood there, kissing for what seemed like a nice long time. When we were both out of breath his hands went to my face and he whispered my name. I thought of how lucky I was to have Edward as I unglued myself from him so that his arms were still around my waist and mine were still around his neck.

"So what shall we do now?" I asked looking around. "Not that I mind kissing you but my heart might go into arrest from what you do to me,"

Edward leaned in as though he was about to kiss me. My heart continued to speed up. When his lips were barely touching mine he chuckled.

"Well we wouldn't want that now would we?" He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and turned to his right, starting to walk away.

"Hey! My heart can't handle that either! Come back here!" I yelled and went to follow him. He was leaning into a particularly small bush as though he was looking for something. He stood up and turned around, a camera in hand.

"Smile!"

"Aah! Edward get away from me with that!" I shrieked. I ran, giggling, as he tried to catch up to me and take my picture. I didn't get far before I was tackled from behind, Edward made sure I received almost none of the impact. I struggled laughing as he sat on top of me, pinning me down while trying to take my picture. I made funny faces as he snapped away. He then proceeded to lean down and kiss me while freeing my arms and setting the camera down at the same time. One of my hands went to his hair as the other reached for the camera. I grabbed it but accidentally took a picture.

"Better hope Charlie doesn't see that one," he chuckled and got off me. I brought the camera up to my face and took pictures of him and the meadow; both amazed me with their breathtaking beauty.

We spent the rest of the day in the meadow. Edward had packed us some food and had hidden away other things for us to do in the small bush where he had stashed the camera. We were packing up the jars from trying to catch fireflies when I looked up at the sky. It had turned a dreamy shade of dark blue with lots of stars twinkling like tiny ice crystals in the night. It truly had been the best day ever. Any day I spent with Edward was on my list for best days ever. I was sad to be leaving and ending this magnificent date.

"I wish we could just stay here forever,"

Edward turned back toward me and grabbed my hand, looking up at the sky.

"My love for you is bigger than this beautiful sky. Before I met you my life was much like this night sky, there were points of reason, little stars. Then you shot across my sky like a meteor and everything was ablaze. You are my one true love Isabella Marie Swan and I can't even start to imagine what life would be like without you. I love you,"

I turned to him with tears flowing down my cheeks and nuzzled my head against his shoulder

"I love you too," I whispered.

"Well isn't that sweet,"

We looked around to see who was rudely interrupting our sentimental moment. I could barely make out a man cloaked in the darkness of the forest standing at the edge of the meadow.

"Can we help you with something?" Edward asked edging in front of me.

"I was just merely watching you and girlfriend enjoy your last moments with each other. I happened to be passing by so I thought I would have a little bit of fun. So, who wants to die first?"

**That was a loooong chapter! You're welcome :) Review and I'll update soon!**


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the fabulous story called Twilight, that would be Stephenie Meyer

Chapter Three:

I woke up in a cold sweat. I could feel the bile rising in the back of my throat and I rushed to the bathroom and disposed of the contents of my stomach. I lay on the ground for awhile, the cool tile floor soothing my head and fell asleep, curled up in the fetal position in the bathroom.

Time seemed to pass before I heard my cell phone start going off. I turned onto my back and just stared at the ceiling, choosing to ignore whoever was calling me. I gazed into the darkness, and just stared at it, finding some relief in the absence of thought. My ringer kept going off until I finally got so annoyed with it that I went to go deal with it.

My head felt like it was splitting and I answered my phone without glancing at the caller id.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bitch, do you ever answer your phone anymore? I have been trying to call you for like everrrr. Anyways, its Saturday andddd we're going shopping. Me, you, Angela in Port A. We'll be there in an hour to pick you up,"

Lauren. I could not deal with her right now and the thought of even doing anything but lie in bed sounded like a terrible idea.

"Lauren, I can't go. I really don't feel like it. I feel like crap," I moaned.

"Well then why did you answer the phone? Obviously you feel well enough to do that. Just get some clothes on, drink some juice, suck it up and be ready in an hour,"

"But-"I squeaked before I heard dial tone. I cannot believe that girl sometimes. Ugh. I knew there was no escaping it. Lauren would throw a fit if I didn't go after her little "pep talk". I shuffled **(A/N: Everyday I'm shufflin' lol) **over to the closet and put on a blue v-neck and my favorite pair of black sweats. I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back into a loose pony tail before I grabbed a bottle of ginger ale from the fridge and collapsed onto the couch while I waited for Lauren and Angela to show up. It seemed like only minutes later that I heard several loud honks that signaled the start of my torture.

And what torture it was, there was really no point in me going on this trip. I didn't buy anything and the whole time, Lauren and Angela just kept making fun of me. Oh wait, I was needed. Someone had to carry their bags for them.

It was while they were looking at dresses in some store I had never even been in before that I decided to sneak away to keep my sanity. I walked over to the music store across the way and started looking through all the cds when I remembered that I still hadn't bought the new There For Tomorrow cd. I quickly found the "T" section and flipped through the selection before I found their new album, The Verge. I was reading the back when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Let me save you some pain and heart ache and stop you from buying that cd," I turned around to find Jared a couple of feet from me.

"Are you kidding me? Their last album was amazing. So was the EP of the remixes off that album! I've been looking forward to this for months,"

Jared walked over and grabbed the disc out of my hands as he looked it over.

"See that's what I thought too. But I bought this the day it came out and was totally disappointed. Sure, bands evolve, I get that. But this album just wasn't any good. Trust me," and he put the cd back in its slot. "Have you heard of a band called The Almost?"

I shook my head. He then proceeded to walk over to another section, comb through the selection and pull out a grey case. He came back to where I was watching and handed it to me.

"This is their first album, Southern Weather, If you like TFT's last cd then you'll like this one too, scout's honor," Jared grinned and gave me a salute.

I just stared at him smirking "Like you were ever a scout. So what you're trying to tell me is that one of my favorite bands ever just put out a lousy album and I'm gonna love this artist I've never even heard of? If you're wrong, I might have to kill you,"

"Hey I'll even pay for it myself," and he took a cd out of my hand for the second time and went up to the register and paid. I'll admit, I was speechless.

Jared was handed me back the cd and I was putting it in my purse when we got company.

"Oh Bella, you're into _that_ kind of music?"

Lauren and Angela were blocking the exit, giving me such judging looks.

"I mean I wouldn't say I'm _into_ it. I just kinda listen to it every once and awhile…"

"Ohh is that right? Oh Bella you're such a loser sometimes. We'll meet you at the car while you look at _your_ kind of music. Bye Jared," Lauren smirked and they turned away and left.

I looked down at the floor. I couldn't even face Jared right now and didn't know what to say.

"Why do you put up with that crap?"

"They're my friends. They mean well. Lauren just can be a bit harsh sometimes. You don't know her,"

"Seriously? Don't be so ridiculous Bella," I looked up, irritated now.

"Oh and you know so much about my life? What you've been here TWO days maybe? Thanks but I don't need your help. Goodbye Jared," and stormed out to where the car was.

"That Jared has his good points. He looked pretty delicious today. What do you think Bella?" Lauren asked from the front seat.

"I don't see it. He's an ass and I don't like him," I vented and didn't say a word the rest of the trip home. I threw my purse on my bedroom floor and crawled back into bed, just wanting to sleep the rest of the day and weekend away.

Sadly I woke up long enough the next day to remember I had an English essay I hadn't even started on. I went to go grab a pencil out of my purse when I found the cd from yesterday. A part of me just wanted to throw it away but the other half wanted to listen to it just so I could realize how much I hated it and use it against Jared. Yeah it wasn't perfect logic but it made sense to me so I put the cd in and listened to it as I worked on my essay. Song by song, chorus by chorus, I kept mentally preparing myself to hate it and be done with it. That didn't happen. Damn that boy, this cd was good, really good. I hated to acknowledge the fact but I had no choice, he had good choice in music and this was a damn good cd.

Not like I would ever tell him. Yeah I know my friends can suck sometimes but who is he to waltz right in and tell me how to live my life? He didn't even know me. Wow, I've known this boy two days and I already hate him. This was going to be an interesting year…

**Ok, so first I want apologize for it having been so long since my last update. My classes are killing me with the amount of work they are assigning and I haven't had a lot of time to work on the story. Alright, I also hope to get the next chapter up within the next couple of days! Keep your fingers crossed! **

**Oh and the opinions in the story about music are totally my own. I love There for Tomorrow, just not their latest cd and the album, Southern Weather, by The Almost is pretty legit. **


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

The next couple of days, I went out of my way to avoid Jared. It may seem silly but he had hit a nerve. Avoiding him got hard though, since he was in all of my afternoon classes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he didn't even approach me. I kept expecting him to try but he never did. We still sat next to each other in Biology but not a word was spoken. For some reason, I wanted him to apologize. Or maybe I wanted to apologize. I felt so confused. I mean he had tried to tell me how to live my life, but at the same time he had been so sweet to me. Wow, I had barely known him for less than a week and I couldn't stop thinking of him. Him and those haunting violet eyes.

I was walking back to my car after school Thursday when I saw him jogging to catch up to me. Man, he looked good in that dark blue v neck. His bronze hair was wet and glistening in the rain.

"Hey,"

I stopped in front of my truck.

"Hey,"

"Listen, Bella- I'm really sorry about this weekend. I didn't mean to be such a jerk. I don't want to tell you how to run your life. I also didn't mean to alienate my first friend here," he said with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I sighed and played with my bracelet, moving the heart around on the chain.

"Thanks and I'm sorry too. I probably over reacted,"

"Water under the bridge Swan. Sooo what are your plans for this weekend? Specifically Saturday,"

My heart sped up a little. Was he..?

"Well my dad is out of town so I have a hot date with some laundry," He chuckled.

"Well you listened to that cd I got you right?" I groaned.

"Yes. Another musical addiction to add to my list,"

Jared then proceeded to dig through his backpack until he produced a plain white envelope.

"Well this baby here has two tickets to see The Almost in concert, in Seattle, this Saturday. You wanna go with me?"

"Are you kidding me? Yeah I'll go! Wait. You just gave me the cd a couple of days ago. How did you manage to get the tickets if the show is this weekend? Plus you had to be banking on me saying yes,"

The slyest smile crept over his face.

"Swan, relax! I had gotten these tickets awhile ago but the person I was planning on going with cancelled and I had to find someone else. The whole cd adventure was coincidental. You needed some musical education,"

I couldn't help but laugh and stare in his eyes. There was something about the color that made me feel uneasy and yet enamored with them. It was quite conflicting.

"Sure. I would love to go," and just like that I was handed my ticket. A ticket for a night out, with just Jared.

"Bellllaaaaa!"

I cringed. I actually cringed. I slowly turned around and Lauren waving at me.

"Hey Bella, Angela had an appointment to go to so she couldn't drive me home. Can you give me a lift?" She asked in the most sugar coated voice. I looked up at Jared. He was stoic; I couldn't read an emotion off of him at all.

"Yeah...sure. I'll talk to you later Jared,"

Lauren winked at Jared. "Yeah see you tomorrow!"

"Bye Bella," he said and started walking in the opposite direction.

I steeled myself, knowing full well that I was about to get it.

"I need to talk to you," Lauren replied curtly and got in the passenger side. I sighed and got in. We were halfway to her house when she finally spoke.

"Do you like Jared?" she asked coldly

"Umm,"

"Cuz I told you that I liked him. You don't pull this shit with friends. I saw you just now. You never told me you liked him but I had told you that I did," She took out her compact and looked at her reflection.

I honestly didn't know. I had been all over the place emotionally wise when it came to that boy. Yeah he was handsome, but I barely knew him. The weight from my bracelet seemed to also weigh me down.

"Oh,"

My answer or lack of one seemed to anger her because her look hardened noticeably.

"Prove you really don't like him and skip Biology tomorrow. I want to be his partner. Actually just don't come to school tomorrow. Take a sick day. I don't think you should be there at all,"

I froze in my seat. I honestly didn't know what to say.

"Mr. Banner would just tell him to work by himself. You have Jess,"

"I told her to skip as well,"

We arrived at her house at that point much to my relief. She turned and faced me.

"If you don't, I won't be your friend anymore," she threatened and dramatically snapped her mirror shut.

"I don't know Lauren,"

"Well you better decide by tomorrow," she informed and got out of the truck.

I just stared after her, my mouth open in shock. She was threatening me over Jared? Seriously? He would just be another notch on her belt. As soon as she was done with him Lauren would break his heart into millions of pieces, not caring.

**Well there you go! Short chapter, I know, but I got some plans for the next one ;). I will definitely try and put up the next chapter soon. Stay tuned! Oh and feel free to write me a review. Those are very nice.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

The next morning, I stood with my hand on the door knob, thinking about Lauren's threat. Not that I was truly scared of Lauren, but I honestly just didn't feel like dealing with all the drama. So what if I didn't "follow her orders"? She was acting like we were back in junior school. She may be my friend but this was definitely one of her more ridiculous moments. So I turned the handle and braced the rain.

My converse squeaked with every step I took in the hall. Don't you just hate that? Walking through a quiet hallway and your shoes squeak? I guess that's what I get for having a slow truck that can't navigate well in the rain.

I opened the door to my first period Spanish class and squeaked my way to my seat. Nobody bothered to commentate on my tardiness. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lauren glaring at me, her eyes half closed and her mouth was set in a grim line. I looked up at pretended I was so absorbed by the lesson. Yeah, because Spanish 1 is that interesting…

When the bell rang, I went up to hand in my assignment. When I returned, I found Lauren going through my back pack.

"What are you doing?"

She icily looked up and pulled out one of my journals.

"Relax. I'm getting the notes for History. Is that alright with you or is it too much to ask for?"

"Whatever," I grabbed my bag, zipped it shut and walked out. Not bothering to try and apologize to her.

Jessica wasn't in English or History. I can't say I was truly surprised. Jessica always listened to what Lauren said. It's a good thing Lauren wasn't the bridge jumping type.

"Swan!"

I turned around from the doors of the cafeteria to find Jared. His bronzish hair was messily done. He had on a blue plaid shirt, dark jeans and black converse.

"Hi Jared,"

"How would you like to go get lunch with me? I forgot my lunch today and I don't feel like suffering cafeteria food," He then motioned me to move closer and faux whispered "Who knows what the cafeteria ladies do to it,"

I suppressed a laugh and put my hand up as if to whisper too.

"You're right, they're out to get us," I glanced back at the wooden double doors. I knew very well that if I stayed here, I never would hear the end of it from Lauren about what a terrible friend I was. And maybe I was. But right now I really didn't care. "Let's go,"

We walked outside in the rain to the parking lot. I pulled my hood up and headed for my truck when I heard a whistle. Jared was motioning me to the other side of the parking lot. I found him standing next to some kind of sports car. I had no idea what type it was, just that it was black and from the look of the horse on the front, a Mustang.

"Nuh uh. Why can't I drive? I don't wanna get in this,"

"Well I'm not getting in your metal death trap," and he motioned over to my truck. He then started fishing around in his pocket. "Tell you what. We'll flip for it. Heads, we go in my car. Tails, I agree to risk my life in yours,"

He tossed the coin up in the air, caught it and flipped it onto his opposite palm.

"Heads, get in,"

I took one last look at my truck and lowered myself into his ridiculous car.

He started the car and drove out of the parking lot. He seemed to have an idea in mind of where he wanted to go so I just sat back in my seat, gazing out the window.

Between the few amount of buildings were vast areas of trees, hiding secrets in the depths of their forests. We finally arrived at a fast food drive thru where we ordered and ended up eating in the parking lot.

I stared down at my half eaten burger, contemplating the silence. Except..

Except I recognized a song playing softly in the background. I waved my hand around the dash until I located the volume control and turned it up.

_"Tremble for yourself my man_

_ You know that you have seen this all before_

_ Tremble Little Lion Man_

_ You'll never settle any of your scores_

_Your boldness stands alone among the wreck_

_ Now learn from your mother or else spend your _

_ Days biting your own neck"_

Jared chuckled.

"You know this song?"

"Yeah. I mean I don't know too many Mumford and Sons songs but I know this one. I love the music video, the white lights strung around the room creates a soft glow, which reminds me of Christmas. Every year, my mom would only allow us to hang white lights on the tree with silver bulbs. It became a game to try and put a color bulb on it and hide it from her," **(A/N: Yep, true story)** I chuckled and looked out the window, missing my mom and Phil. I longed for the holidays of my childhood before any of this crap had started.

I looked over to find Jared's violet eyes penetrating mine. I gazed down at my feet.

"My family and I weren't all that close. We usually had dinner and sat around the living room. It was pretty quiet over at my house. Especially after my sister died,"

I looked over to find Jared's violet eyes penetrating mine. I gazed down at my feet. He had lost a sister? That was horrible. And here I was reminding him of it. I felt so stupid.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so depressing,"

He gripped my hand and held it.

"It's okay, Alex passed away a couple of years ago. The pain isn't as bad as it used to be," We both stared down at our hands, intertwined. It felt…nice, soothing almost. We sat there for the longest time, in silence. I knew I probably should tell him my story too. He had just opened up to me and it was only fair. I sat there, taking deep breaths before I was brave enough to say something.

"Two years ago…my boyfriend surprised me on our anniversary with a day trip to a field he had found in the forest. We spent the day there but when we were getting ready to leave, a man attacked us. Ed-" my breath got hitched in my throat and I stopped for a second, trying not to get lost in the moment. "Edward, my boyfriend, told me to run while he held back the guy. I ran and ran back to my truck and called the police. They searched the woods but found no trace of the attacker or of Edward. They sent out multiple search parties the next couple of days but they never found anything. My boyfriend went missing and has been ever since," Tears were streaming down my face. "Th- There's not a day I don't think about him," I put my hand up to cover my face and hide the fact that I was crying.

A cool hand reached out and wiped my cheek softly.

"So that day when you called me Edward-"

"That was our anniversary. The day he disappeared,"

This time the silence felt awkard. I felt like I couldn't breathe in the small confined space.

I took my hand out of Jared's and stepped out the car, into the rain. The cool air had a calming effect on me.

Jared got out of the car and faced me over the hood.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to talk about it anymore,"

I was lost in the past, full of hurt and pain of the loss. I was angry.

"After he disappeared, people gave me weird looks and stopped talking to me. It wasn't until weeks later that I found out that there were rumors going around that I had gone and killed him. It was insane. The boy I was in love with was gone and people had the nerve to blame me. I started to skip school. Then one day, Lauren, Jessica and Angela showed up to my doorstep before class and convinced me to go back. They called themselves my friends and for the first time I felt hope. Some friends they turned out to be,"

I had been holding in so much frustration and anger that I had accidentally vented everything onto Jared.

He then came over and gave me a hug. I had my arms crossed in front of me and he wrapped his arms around me as I leaned into his chest, taking in his scent as I calmed down.

"Hey hey its alright," He rubbed my back. It felt so good and soothing. I needed it. "Look they were once your friends right? They cared about you. They helped you during a hard time in your life. They may not be the most amazing friends but you were once grateful for them right? Sometimes we make friends that were only meant to be a part of our lives for a short time. Then we move on. It sucks but its true. **(A/N: ****Just ****went through that. Ugh)**

__Oh my goodness. This was the second time I had broken down in front of this boy. He deserved some sort of gold medal for this.

I broke out of his embrace and gazed up at him and sighed.

"Thanks Jared. Look I'm really sorry. I must seem like a nutcase to you. I really don't mean to be this emotional around you,"

A comforting half grin showed on his face and my heart couldn't help but do a couple of flips in my chest.

"Hey don't worry about it. What are friends for? You know next week we can eat ice cream and watch chick flicks. Actually scratch that. My man card might be in danger for just suggesting that,"

The thought of Jared and I watching sad love movies was enough to produce a small giggle and make me feel a bit better.

"Soo I hate to break it to you butt we're gonna catch a cold if we keep standing in the rain. Let's get back inside the nice heated car,"

Oh yeah. I had somehow forgotten we had been standing in the rain. It may not have been pouring but I was soaked all the way through my clothes.

Jared started the car to get the heat going and my eyes drifted to the dash.

"Jared! It's 3:00! We've been here for more than two hours! We missed the rest of school"

Jared looked at the clock too and shrugged.

"Beats going to gym. Come on, I'll take you back to your truck,"

We drove back to the school. The whole way there, it felt as if more and more weight was being lifted off of me. I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment.

"Sleeping beauty, we're back,"

We were parked right behind the clock. According to the clock, school would let out in ten minutes.

"Thanks, for everything," I gripped the handle.

"Wait,"

I turned back towards him.

"What time should I pick you up tomorrow? You know, for the concert,"

The concert. I had completely forgotten about that.

"Uhh six?"

That amazing smile appeared on his again.

"See you then Swan,"

I stepped out in a daze. I waved as Jared drove off and got inside my truck. I sat there, not knowing exactly what to do or how exactly I felt.

Jared was amazing. I didn't know of any guy that would have known a girl only for so long and stuck by her through multiple break downs. I found myself replaying his smile over and over in my head, giggling at the thought.

And yet, I loved Edward with so much of my heart and soul. I felt guilty for feeling so happy at the thought of another guy. It wasn't fair, to either of us. He had been the love of my life. But I really did feel butterflies for Jared. What was I to do? Fuck.

**I feel like so much of this has been drawn, straight from my life. Bleh. Hopefully, it improved my writing. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter.**

**Review!**

**Review!**

**Review!**

**I enjoy getting feedback. What do you think of the story so far? What do YOU want to happen?**


	7. Chapter 6

Two chapters in one night! What a treat! Enjoy! Hehehehe

Have I mentioned I don't own Twilight? Yeah, not all of my wishes have come true. Boo.

Chapter Six:

I woke up the next morning and jumped out of bed. I actually felt giddy about the concert with Jared. Ugh the butterflies were there to stay in my stomach for the rest of the day.

Skipping down the stairs, I went over to my backpack to spend a couple of minutes, staring at the proof that I wasn't dreaming, aka the ticket.

I flipped around my bag, dissecting every folder and notebook with no such luck. My heart seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time as I began to freak out. I grabbed my keys and hopped outside, walking barefoot through the grass.

I tore apart the contents of the cab of my truck, still not finding my ticket.

_Where the heck did I put that thing?_

I ran back inside and dragged my backpack up into my room. I poured out everything onto the floor and frantically searched for that strip of paper.

I jumped up and looked on my desk, under pillows, anywhere that could have been hiding it.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no," I started muttering to myself before I sank onto the floor. I lost it. I had lost the ticket. I groaned as I picked up the empty backpack and twirled it around in my hand.

_This was the last place I remember putting it! What am I gonna do now? _

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and I started to pace around the house.

I needed that ticket for tonight. They weren't going to let me in otherwise. Ohh Jared was gonna kill me if I told him the truth. That was it. I was going to have to lie and cancel on him. I was such a terrible person.

I grabbed my phone and stared at it. What was I gonna say? 'Oh hey Jared, I can't go. I'm grounded by my dad who is gone for the weekend?' Oh yeah that was Oscar worthy…

Well, I had to do it at some point. I just really wish this was a nightmare.

I pinched my arm. Nope, I was awake.

I looked through my contacts until I got to the number Jared had given me yesterday. It rang once, twice, three times…

"Hello? Swan is that you?"

I sighed. I reallyyy didn't want to do this.

"Yeah Jared its uh me,"

"Well what's up?"

"Jared I-, I have some bad news. I got up this morning and I had, uh, put the ticket on the counter last night and I guess it was near some of Charlie's papers. When I went to get it, it wasn't there. So I think Charlie accidentally took it with him," I rushed the last part out. I hated lying.

There was silence for a good moment before I heard a response from him.

"Oh,"

If that really was a response. I felt so guilty and bad.

"I'm really sorry Jared. I'll pay you back for it. You should still go and have tons of fun, really,"

There was more silence on the other end.

"Okay. Well uh, see you later Bella,"

I felt terrible. I stared down at the phone for what seemed like ever. I wanted to throw the thing, I felt like such an idiot. How could I have lost such an important thing? I slumped on the couch and fell asleep.

I alternated the rest of the day between, sleeping, watching TV and getting up to go grab food out of the fridge. Wow, I had taken Charlie's place while he was gone.

I was in the middle of some sort of marathon on TV when I heard a burst of noise from outside. They were showing reruns of some comedy where two guys run a psychic detective agency but neither of them were actually psychic.

Anyways I was in the middle of my veg out when I heard a strange noise outside. I peeked between the blinds and saw a car parked behind me.

I pulled on a pair of flip flops that were nearby and went out to investigate.

This didn't make sense, it was Jared's car. I peeked inside. No Jared.

My heart started beating faster. This meant Jared was here. At my house. Where on earth could he be?

I glanced around until my eyes fell upon the gate to the backyard. Could he be back there?

I walked around the side of the house to the gate and slowly swung it open.

Step by step, I made my way farther in until I was in full view of the back. I stopped dead in my tracks and took in the sight before me.

"Oh. My. God,"

**Muahaha. Cliff hanger! What will happen next? OOooOoOOh! Stay tuned! And as usual, stay in school, don't do drugs and oh REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**And thank you for flying American Airlines :)**

**I may or may not be a little hyper right now…**


	8. Chapter 7

Hey you guys! Thanks so much for reading! I wanna thank the following people:

BreeT

Sarah

Staind782003

Alice-Valentina-Cullen

Thank you guys so much for sending in your reviews so far! Although they might not be numerous, they always make my day. A plate of cyber cookies for you all!

Huzzah! I do own Twilight! What? A copy of the book doesn't count? Well then, nevermind…

Last time:

_My heart started beating faster. This meant Jared was here. At my house. Where on earth could he be?_

_ I glanced around until my eyes fell upon the gate to the backyard. Could he be back there?_

_ I walked around the side of the house to the gate and slowly swung it open. _

_ Step by step, I made my way farther in until I was in full view of the back. I stopped dead in my tracks and took in the sight before me._

_ "Oh. My. God,"_

Chapter Seven:

Lights. Lots of them. Several strands of white Christmas lights hung from the trees and were aglow in the evening sky. I held my hand up to one of the tiny bulbs and cupped it, seeing the softness in the radiance. The ground appeared to glitter.

I could hear soft music coming from somewhere close by as I took the last steps onto the concrete. On the table was a clear vase overflowing with the most beautiful pink flowers. Small white tea lights were set around the flowers, making the petals give off a velvety look. One large square plate was placed at the table.

"Bella,"

Jared was kneeling off to my right; sweeping up large white shards of what I'm guessed was the other plate. He stood upright and I fully took him in. He had on a long sleeve white shirt that was rolled up to his elbow, black jeans and a pair of sneakers. His bronzish hair appeared ablaze under the lights. He looked breathtakingly handsome.

"Jared? What is all of this?" I asked softly.

He glanced around, his gorgeous lips turning up in a smile.

"I felt bad that you couldn't go to the concert so I decided to surprise you with a night out. I've been at this all day. What do you think?"

Tears welled up in my eyes and I put my hand on my chest, my breath coming out unevenly, making it hard to talk.

"It's so beautiful Jared. I feel like I'm in a dream,"

Jared set down the broom and dust pan and walked over to the chair with the place setting.

"Sit, sit and I shall go get dinner," He proceeded to pull out the chair for me, took my plate and walked out of the yard.

I was mesmerized by the scene, taking in every detail. Then a realization hit me; he had been at this all day. How the heck did I not notice any of this going on in my own backyard?

_Way to be blind Bella…_

A few minutes later, I heard the metal gate swing shut and Jared walked back into view. He set the plate back in front of me and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I know it's not exactly fancy French cuisine but I was a bit stretched for time," He apologized.

I picked up my burger and took a bite of it.

"It's delicious and even better than some fancy food. My compliments to the chef," He chuckled.

"I'll be sure to tell them next time I'm in the drive thru,"

He watched me intently as I ate and I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. The music continued to play from a stereo hidden nearby and helped to fill the silence.

Once I had finished eating, Jared stood up and went over one of the bushes. He bent down and was messing with something. I couldn't see what it was until I heard the volume of the music grow.

"One Headlight" by the Wallflowers flowed throughout the yard and Jared came over and extended a pale hand towards me.

"Can I have this dance?"

His smile dazzled me. I put my hand in his, and followed him to a section of the concrete, away from the table. He pulled me toward him, put one hand on the small of my back and cupped my hand in the other. I put my right hand on his bicep, pleased with how solid and firm it felt. We swayed to the music, an awkward distance between us.

"Bella,"

I gazed up. His eyes were smoldering. I felt weak in my knees and he brought me closer to him, my head resting on his chest as we continued to sway there under the lights above us. I felt like I was in some surreal dream. I snuggled closer to him, his body felt cool against my flushed face.

"Bella I want to say something. I'm sure my actions have given me away but I want to make sure there is no doubt. Bella, I like you. I really like you. I know you are still dealing with what happened. But I want you know that I'm willing to wait,"

I was quiet. Somehow I was expecting this to happen but I still felt a bit lost. Dancing with Jared now seemed so soothing, as did any time I spent with him. He was extraordinary. He had seen me at my worst and was still willing to be with me. But… my heart still felt incomplete. It had a hole that refused to be patched over. It had been two years since Edward had disappeared and I still loved him so much. I probably always would. Was I supposed to be alone for the rest of my life?

"Bella? Please say something," He whispered into my hair.

"I care for you too, I really do. I just," I paused "I just want to take things slow,"

We stopped and he took a step back, his eyes ablaze under the lights. He brought my face up to his and then we were kissing. I stood on my toes and tangled my fingers in his hair, firmly grabbing a hold of it. His were intertwined within my hair and there seemed to be no space between the two of us. I was out of breath too soon for my liking, each new one coming out ragged. He was gazing at me the whole time I tried steadying my breathing. I couldn't beat to tear my eyes away from his.

"So much for taking things slow," I laughed breathlessly.

We stood there, not saying anything, lost in the moment. Time seemed to stand still underneath the hundreds of artificial stars above us.

I yawned and realized that it was probably late.

"I better get you home before midnight my Cinderella,"

I smiled at him. "It's a good thing I'm so close to home,"

We tore ourselves apart and he took my hand and led me out of the secret wonderland stashed away.

He walked up to the door and turned around, taking both of my hands and intertwining them in his.

"Goodnight my love. Sweet dreams," I inhaled his sweet scent as he pulled me close and gave me a peck on my forehead. I gazed into his eyes and he planted a soft sweet kiss on my lips.

"Goodnight," I sighed against his lips and walked inside the house.

I closed the door and put my back to it, leaning against the wood. I replayed the last couple of hours in my head over and over, a smile playing on my lips and my stomach growing a never ending supply of butterflies.

I felt giddy and didn't think I would ever stop smiling.

I was dancing my way up to my room when the phone rang. Thinking it was Jared, I went to pick it up.

"Helloo?"

A distorted voice answered me.

"I know you killed him. Sluts like you go to hell,"

Click.

**Sorry…I couldn't resist doing a mini cliff hanger there. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! ;) Thanks so much for all your support!**

**-Selina**


	9. Chapter 8

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder,"

Soo, that being said, you're totally in love with this story and me and won't murder me for not updating sooner? :) It was a worth a shot...

Last time:

_I was dancing my way up to my room when the phone rang. Thinking it was Jared, I went to pick it up._

_ "Helloo?"_

_ A distorted voice answered me._

_ "I know you killed him. Sluts like you go to hell," _

_ Click._

Chapter Eight:

I rolled out of bed Monday morning, shuffled over to my charger and picked up my blaring phone. Jessica's name was on the screen. I looked at the time and pressed the side button. _Ignore_. I was nowhere close enough to being awake to hear whatever she had to say.

I glanced longingly over at my bed, the rising sun caressing my pillow with its rays, and groaned. God I hate school.

I let my mind wander while I brushed my teeth and reflected over the past weekend. Saturday had been so, so… _Amazing._ I grew giddy at the memory of Jared and I dancing, underneath the lights, kissing goodnight... Okay I definitely felt like I was on some sort of major sugar rush.

But then I had gotten that stupid phone call. It had definitely bothered me but I wrote it off as Lauren's idea of a joke and didn't think about it until the next day.

I had woken up Sunday morning with the backyard cleared and no word from Jared. I found myself staring at my phone all day, wondering if I had dreamt up the entire night in my head.

I was getting ready for bed, after doing nothing but torment myself all day, when my phone rang. I ran over and flipped it open eagerly.

"Hello?"

"Sweet dreams. Whore," and then there was a click.

I had stared at the screen for awhile before angrily shutting the phone closed.

Back when Edward had been missing for only a couple of weeks, I started getting prank calls. I never told Charlie about them, not wanting to worry him about it. It had been two years and now they were starting back up again. Ridiculous.

I was walking out the door, a granola bar in my mouth when I stopped in my tracks.

Standing in front of me was Jessica, coffee in one hand and her book bag in the other.

"Hey Bell! Wanna ride to school together?"

I looked around. There was no sign of her car anywhere. Looks like I didn't have much of a choice.

"Uh, sure," I answered and slowly locked up the house before we got in my truck.

"This weather is so great. Today is gonna such a beautiful day,"

"Uh huh,"

"Bells, I wanted to talk to you. _Without_ Lauren around. You know, I have nothing against you. In a way, we have a lot in common. Honestly, I'm fed up Lauren. She thinks she's so much better than everyone else and she takes everything out on us! I've thought about taking your side and standing up to her, I really have. If something went wrong though, it could be bad. Listen; if I get a chance I'll do my best to help you out. Just always remember that you're not alone. You_ do_ have an ally,"

This was probably the most genuine and caring thing I had ever heard Jess say. When we first became friends, she had been nice, but we had never made an honest connection. Now I felt like maybe there was hope after all.

"Thanks Jess. I needed to hear that,"

She turned and gave me a smile as we turned into the parking lot.

"So I'll see you at lunch?" she asked.

"Okay, sure," I answered, clearly distracted. Jared's car was nowhere in sight. _Where the heck was that boy?_

I walked into Spanish to an even bigger shock. Lauren was already sitting at her desk, a smile plastered on her face as she waved at me.

"Morning Bellsy! How are you?"

Okay, it was official; everyone was on crack. However, it was a nice change from the usual bitchy comments so I played along.

"Alright. What about you?"

"Oh Bellsy! I'm great!" Her voice was sugary sweet and seemed almost… nice, like she first was when we became friends. I didn't know what was going on but I would happily accept this temporary transformation.

Come lunch time, I was almost happy to sit with my old friends.

I had just sat down with Jess and Angela at the table when I felt a searing hot liquid splash all over my body. I gasped and jumped out of my seat. Lauren stood behind me, a smile on her face.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Bella! I tripped and my soup went all over you,"

Her expression looked so fake as she tried to "apologize" I just wanted to slap her. Tears welled up in my eyes and I turned to Jess.

"Jess, please. Help me,"

But all Jess did was just turn away, not meeting my gaze.

I turned and briskly walked out of the room before Lauren got the benefit of watching me cry. I went into the bathroom and locked myself into a stall. The tears fell freely and I scavenged around in my purse for my phone. I opened it up to find nothing. The screen was blank and I snapped the phone shut and squeezed it tightly in my hand.

I was done. I had no energy left to be friends with them anymore. I was so foolish to think that a couple of nice words and meaningless smiles could hide how awful those people really are. I wanted so much, to believe that things could possibly change. God I was an idiot.

I tore off a piece of toilet paper and wiped my face. I heard the door swing open, followed by laughter.

"Did you see her face? How pathetic can she get? Aww boohoo poor Bella. She's such a loser. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand this morning. I can't believe she actually bought my nice act. And she has no clue that I took her stupid ticket! She's so clueless, it's hilarious"

Anger built up inside of as I recognized Lauren's voice.

"She probably is gonna go home now and cry into her pillow. Aww no one likes me. Poor me," I looked out of the crack in the door and saw Angela and Lauren fixing their make up in the mirror.

Lauren smiled at her reflection and turned to Angela.

"Well it's true. What a freak," Both girls laughed and left the room.

I slowly walked out and rinsed my face. Oh they were gonna pay. And I knew exactly how.

The chilly air greeted me as I got to my truck and drove out of the parking lot. I was focused, my plan solidifying more and more as time passed.

I pulled into the gas station and went inside. I walked around until I found the right section and on the second shelf was a bag of exactly what I needed. I pulled my wallet out and made my purchase before driving back to the school, this time choosing a different parking spot. I turned my key in the ignition and smiled at my target. This was going to be good.

I got out and stood next to the pretty red convertible next to me. I took out my bag of jolly ranchers and put them on the hood of the convertible and started to open a candy. I put the red candy in my mouth and sucked on it for a good minute before taking it out and pressing it onto the windshield. I applied pressure and held my breath as I let go. It stuck. I giggled as I decorated all of the windows with the colorful treats. I didn't bother trying to be sneaky about it. I just wanted didn't want my surprise to be ruined.

By the time the final bell rang, releasing everyone, Lauren's car was adorned with red, blue, purple, pink and green jolly ranchers. I left the trash on the ground and sat on my hood, waiting to see what would happen. I could see Lauren, happily making her way over with Angela and Jessica.

_5…4…3…2…1…_

"What the hell is this?"

Lauren's eyes were filled with rage as she took in the sight of her new decorations. Her eyes fell on me and I did nothing but smile.

"Oh no Lauren. Look what happened to your car. Wow I'm sorry. Good luck with that!" I jumped off my hood and walked over to her.

"Oh and you can keep the ticket. Bitch. Toodles!" I gave her my sweetest smile as I got in my truck and drove away. I was free.

My phone rang. The caller id showed up as "Unavailable"

I flipped it open and answered it.

"Dear Lauren, I know this is you. Stop prank calling me because you don't scare me anymore. You're the slut and you're not fooling anyone Goodbye!" and slammed the phone shut.

Free. At. Last.

**Okay a couple of things here. One: I do not suggest any of you try that prank. I never have, my sister just told me about it and I thought it was hysterical**

**Two: When writing the chapters with Lauren in them, I've been using a manga called ****Othello**** as a reference. It's a favorite of mine and I definitely recommend checking it out. If you read it, you can see that the influence it had on the story.**

**I had a hard time trying to figure out this chapter. It had to set a couple of things up for later and every time I tried to write it, it sounded like garbage. I apologize if it still does.**

**Anyways, keep reading! Recommend the story to your friends, your facebook friends and even your friend's facebook friends. Oh and as usual, remember that reviews are read and received with love. :)**

**-Selina**


	10. Chapter 9

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the love! Whenever I get a new notification about a new story alert, review, or that it was added as someone's favorite story, it totally makes my day! Here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

Last time:

_**"**__My phone rang. The caller id showed up as "Unavailable"_

_ I flipped it open and answered it._

_ "Dear Lauren, I know this is you. Stop prank calling me because you don't scare me anymore. You're the slut and you're not fooling anyone Goodbye!" and slammed the phone shut._

_Free. At. Last._

Chapter Nine:

The rest of the evening, I was on top of the world. I was in the best mood as I made dinner for Charlie, made small talk and even while I did homework. I was walking back into my room after my shower when I felt something.

An uneasy feeling came over me and I felt uneasy on my feet. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my first instinct was to find a weapon. I picked up a dictionary off my desk and slowly walked the perimeter of my room. I knelt down and ripped the bed skirt up. There was nothing but dust under there. Adrenaline ran through my veins and my body felt like it was on fire. My breath quickened as I reached out to doorknob of my closet door. I grabbed the book tighter.

_1…2…3…_

I swung the door open. Empty. I glanced around the room, my heart still racing. My eyes landed on the window. The backyard was covered in darkness, making it impossible to see anything between the trees. The possibilities of what was lurking in the shadows haunted me as I set the dictionary back down on the desk. I gave the room once last glance before turning off the lights and bolting for the bed. The comforter was wrapped around me in a cocoon and I shut my eyes, willing sleep to find me.

_I was standing in the meadow; the sun lit up the flowers and set a golden haze around me. I looked around, looking for someone._

_ "Edward?" I kept looking but I was alone._

_ Suddenly the scene changed. The sunny clear sky disappeared and the night came up and conquered the day. Everything was dead around me. The grass was lifeless and the flowers were black and shriveled up. The wind was strongly coursing through the trees and the night seemed to howl at its new prey._

_ "Bellllaaa,"_

_ A voice whispered my name, taunting me. _

_ I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I gasped, turning around. It was him. His hood was covering most of his face except for his mouth. A wide smile was set on his pale face. His sharp teeth were glowing in the moonlight._

_ "Time to play,"_

**Short chapter = yes. Long time since last update = yes. My computer broke. This makes writing midterm papers so much fun…**

**You know what I realized? Whenever I picture Jasper, I always see him as a brunette, not a blonde. Random…**

**Anyways, I'm excited about what is coming soon! I pretty much have it planned out and I have to say, it's pretty amazing. So stay tuned ;)**

**Oh and as usual, remember that reviews are read and received with love. :)**

**-Selina**


	11. Chapter 10

Read, Rejoice, Review. :)

Last time:

_"Bellllaaa,"_

_ A voice whispered my name, taunting me. _

_ I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I gasped, turning around. It was him. His hood was covering most of his face except for his mouth. A wide smile was set on his pale face. His sharp teeth were glowing in the moonlight._

_ "Time to play,"_

Chapter Ten:

I shot up in my bed, beads of sweat gathered on my forehead. My beat was fighting to escape my chest. I wrapped my knees to my chest and buried my head as I focused solely on my breathing. The still of the man of the meadow burned in my mind. Outside, the weather seemed to be back to its cloudy normalcy and I could see the trees blowing in the wind. It sent a chill down my spine.

As I was walking out the door, I paused at the top of the steps. In my driveway was a sports car and sitting on the hood was a very handsome guy holding a cup of coffee.

A smile formed on my lips as I approached the car.

"Hey Swan, want a ride to school? I've got hot chocolate, it's got whipped cream," Jared asked, extending the paper cup towards me.

It was warm in my hands and I cradled it as I stared at hood of the car. Last time I saw him was Saturday and he had been totally M.I.A since then. It wasn't exactly confidence boosting when a guy confesses his feelings for you and then not talk to you for days.

"Listen- About this weekend…" He started but I interrupted him.

"Yeah about that," My breath was stuck in my throat and I could feel my stomach overturn.

"I'm really sorry. It's just that, well, I've been sick with some stomach virus for the past couple of days and I feel like such a jerk for not calling or texting. And I know that it must have seemed like I was bailing after what happened but I promise you that I'm still in it a hundred percent,"

The wind soothed me and I laughed.

Jared gave me a quizzical look and I explained.

"I thought you were taking it back and you were giving me hot chocolate to help comfort the blow,"

"Swan you'll have to try harder to get rid of me. I'm in it to win it. Now get in or we'll be late for school. Oh but first,"

He then closed the distance between us and took me in his arms, which seemed considerably warmer than the hot chocolate in my grasp.

His face lowered closer and closer to mine until our lips were intertwined and we were kissing. The world dissolved around us and my mind focused solely on the moment as his fingers went to my hair, my free hand against his chest. He pulled away much too soon for my liking and softly set his lips against my forehead.

"Good morning," he whispered before giving me a peck.

"Mmmm morning," I replied, lavishing the moment.

He brought me back to being arms length and rubbed small circles on my biceps.

"So, did I miss much?"

I thought for a minute before answering.

"Mmm, nah. Just the same old, same old,"

I walked into Spanish, sipping my hot chocolate and unsure of what to expect. Just yesterday I had gotten my revenge on Lauren. However…I still had multiple classes with her and I couldn't totally avoid her.

It turned out that I didn't have much to worry about. Sitting in Lauren's normal seat next to me was a girl I had never seen before.

She was tiny and petite. Her short pointy black hair was complimented by her pale white skin. She looked up and her gaze fell on me and instantly smiled. Her liquid gold eyes lit up as her smile widened.

I slowed down as I approached my seat. Did I know this girl?

The pixie like girl turned towards me and extended a cool pale hand.

"Hi I'm new! My name is Alice!"

"Hi I'm Bella,"

"Well Bella I'm glad to have met you and I just know we're going to be good friends!"

Her forwardness surprised me but she seemed so cute and nice that I giggled.

"So today is your first day? Where are you from?"

Alice brought her index finger to her cheek and looked up.

"Well my brother Jasper and I just moved here from Alaska. We move around a lot. Jasper and I are in the same grade so I'm sure you'll meet him later,"

"Oh, cool. Well welcome to Forks," I said before the bell interrupted me and class began.

We chatted a bit more after class but I didn't really get to talk to her or her brother until lunch started.

I had met up with Jared and we were walking out to go eat in his car when we ran into her. Also with her was a guy I assumed was her brother, Jasper. He had wavy blonde hair and was considerably taller than Alice. He had the same pale skin and gold eyes as his sister though. Good looks must run in the family.

"Oh hey Alice and you must be Jasper. It's nice to meet you. And this is Jared, Jared this is Alice and Jasper and today is their first day," I gestured and looked up at Jared. He seemed to be concentrating very hard on something and didn't respond for a second before giving a wave.

"Oh hey guys, what's up?" Alice then ran over and gave me a quick hug.

"Bella! Where are you going? You're going have lunch with us right?" She then gave the saddest pout I had ever seen and I knew I couldn't say no.

"Uh sure, Jared that's alright, right?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied and we all went to grab a table in the cafeteria.

We spent the rest of the time hearing about Alice. I know that sounds bad but there had been something weird about lunch. The guys seemed to not be very talkative, giving small, short answers when prompted. I found myself babbling to help fill the awkward silence but since I had never been much of a conversationalist, Alice dominated the talking. Apparently her and Jasper had been adopted by their parents and had lived pretty much all over the world. She went in full detail about shopping and I laughed as Jasper's eyes rolled at her stories. Even the quiet Jared gave a chuckle at them.

The rest of the day went smoothly despite the awkwardness and I was relieved when the final bell rang. It had felt like forever since I had gone through an entire day without cutting class. I had forgotten how tiring it all was.

I leaned back in my seat as Jared drove me home. His car drove so smoothly that I could have just fallen asleep there. Something nagged at me though.

"Hey what was up with you at lunch?" I asked keeping my eyes closed.

"What do you mean?"

I flipped so that I was facing him and gazed at him through drooping eyes.

"You were just so quiet. It was almost as if you didn't want to be there,"

He kept his eyes on the road.

"No I- I thought I knew them from somewhere and I was just concentrating on where it could be,"

"Oh. Well did you figure it out? I mean the only things you guys have in common is that you are all wicked pale. Sun much?"

"Ha ha very funny Swan. Nah, I couldn't figure it out. It's whatever,"

"Mmkay then," I let the drowsiness consume me and I snuggled into the seat.

"_Bella,"_

_I was back in the meadow. The wind was still howling and it looked just as I had left it, I shifted my gaze until I saw Edward off to my right. _

"_Edward?"_

"_What are you still doing here Bella? Run! You need to get away from here, now!" He pleaded, urgency in his voice._

"_Wait Ed, what's going on? Help me please," I reached out to him but found myself falling until I met the hard earth._

_Footsteps sounded behind me and I flipped myself over and saw that the hooded man was standing over me._

"_Soon,"_

I gasped and my eyes shot open. I was warm and cozy in my bed. Confused, I looked around until I found Jared sitting in a chair in a corner

A whimper left over from my dream escaped my throat and Jared was at my side in flash.

"Hey hey hey. It's okay. It was just a dream,"

I felt my eyes water but fought the tears back. Jared climbed onto the bed and laid down next to me and stroked my hair.

I scooted closer to him and put my head on his chest.

"I keep having these nightmares about the guy from the meadow. I can't sleep anymore,"

"It's just a nightmare. Don't worry about it. I'll protect you and stay with you for as long as it takes,"

I sighed. There was something about the dreams that bugged me. They were trying to warn me. But of what? I had no idea and these nightmares were only getting worse.

**Some familiar faces in there yeah? I'm so excited about what's coming up. It's gonna be sweeeeet. **

**My "n" key is sticking so please excuse any typos in this chapter. **

**Soo review, please? I just baked a batch of yummy peppermint and chocolate chip cookies. I'll send you one ;)**

**-Selina**


	12. Chapter 11

Guess who finished their Astronomy homework in record time? This girl! That means a nice update for all my readers :) Enjoy!

Last time:

_"I keep having these nightmares about the guy from the meadow. I can't sleep anymore,"_

_ "It's just a nightmare. Don't worry about it. I'll protect you and stay with you for as long as it takes," Jared said, trying to comfort me._

_ I sighed. There was something about the dreams that bugged me. They were trying to warn me. But of what? I had no idea and these nightmares were only getting worse._

Chapter Eleven:

Jared and I lay on my bed, talking for hours. At first we tried to dissect what the meaning could possibly be behind the dreams but I got too annoyed at the feeling of helplessness so we avoided the subject all together.

It was getting late when I heard the front door open downstairs. I clawed myself off the bed as fast as I could. Unfortunately I lost my balance and I ended up on the floor with a loud bang.

"Bella? You okay up there?" Charlie's voice called.

"Yeah Dad! Just tripped! I'll be done in a second," I rushed out and turned to Jared who was still on the bed. He slowly got up and combed his hand through his hair.

"You want me to go?"

"No!" I whispered harshly. The thought of him leaving scared me. I didn't want to be alone right now.

"Alright. I'll go home and pick up some clothes to change into and I'll come back and stay with you for the night," He replied and started for the window.

"Wait," I called to him.

_God I hope Charlie doesn't hear us._

"What about your parents? Aren't they going to notice you staying out all night?" I asked. I really wanted him to be here tonight but I had to be realistic.

Jared gave me a crooked grin and my heart melted a bit more.

"Don't worry about it. They're out of town for the week. I'll be back," He gave me a quick peck before darting out the window into the darkness.

I stared after him before, closing the window shut, composing myself and heading downstairs. Charlie was sitting in his chair, a box of pizza on his lap, watching some football game on TV.

"Hey kid, how was your day?"

I took a seat on the couch and watched the game, not really paying attention to it.

"Good I guess. We got two new kids students in my grade today. Alice and Jasper Cullen,"

Charlie turned his gaze to me and brought his hand up, pointing at nothing in particular.

"Oh yeah. I met their dad this morning, Dr. Carlisle Cullen right? Nice guy,"

"Yeah," I brought my hand to my chin and rested my head on it. Charlie went back to watching the game and I told him that I was gonna take a quick shower and go to bed. He waved me good night, his gaze never leaving the TV and I left the room.

I walked back into my room after my shower and stopped in the doorway. The cool breeze coming from the open window gave me chills. I walked slowly over to the window, cautious.

_I could have sworn I closed the window…_

I peered out into the darkness, searching for some sort of clue but found nothing. I turned back around and sat on the sill. I crossed my arms and examined my room from my spot. My purse was open on the desk, my unopened backpack sitting on the floor nearby. My closet door was wide open, the way I had left it. I could feel the tension building in my joints.

_ What the heck is going on?_

Cool arms grabbed at my sides and my scream was caught in my throat. I whipped around and found Jared climbing through the window, a gym bag now strapped to his shoulder.

"Ready for our slumber party?"

I gave a small laugh and plopped on the bed.

"Sorry but no makeovers or gossiping tonight?"

He gave a sly smile as he set down his bag.

"And pillow fights? Are those allowed?"

I squinted my eyes at him and stared him down.

"Like you would have a chance," And with that he leaped into the air.

He landed next to me and grabbed a nearby pillow and started the attack. I yelped and put my hands up, trying to defend myself. I lunged to grab the pillow out of his grasp but was flipped over in the process. I found myself pinned down to the bed, Jared straddling me.

He leaned in close, his cool minty breath creating a very distracting sensation on my lips. His eyelids drooped as he rubbed his lips against mine so lightly it was a ghostly kind of sensation. My mind was on fire and I was going crazy.

He looked me straight in the eyes, staring me down.

"You're right, no chance whatsoever," and I felt the grin on his lips against mine. I couldn't think straight! I pushed my head forward and met his lips against mine. We lay there, me pinned down and him on top, until we were out of breath. Jared then laid down next to and I snuggled closer. I felt totally safe in his arms and I fell asleep that way, no nightmares plaguing me that night.

I woke up and saw that Jared was still there. I planted small kisses along his jaw, making my way slowly down his neck until I reached his collar bone. I felt a chuckle reverberate in his chest beneath my lips.

"I could wake up like this every day," I then felt him plant a kiss in my hair.

"Do we have to go to school? I'm so comfortable now. It would be cruel to have to leave,"

Jared grabbed my chin between thumb and index finger and brought my face up to his, giving me a slow kiss on my lips.

"Swan are you suggesting we skip? What a devious girl you are,"

I felt him move and then I was on the bed alone.

"You're gonna corrupt me, I know it. You're bad company Swan," He winked at me and started digging through his gym bag. I sighed and went to the closet, picked out some clothes before leaving to change in the bathroom.

I came back to find a very handsome guy standing in my room, dressed in a red plaid shirt and jeans. I don't know what it is but I loved seeing guys wear plaid.

"Ooooh I like the shirt," I commented and went and put my hands on his biceps, running my hands up and down the length of his arms.

"Ohh the things you do to me," He growled, yes _growled_ before grabbing me and swinging me down. It was a scene straight out of a movie as he kissed me, my hands around my neck and his arms keeping me from falling.

He brought me back up to my feet and leaned down to grab my purse and backpack.

"Well, off to school!" I rolled my eyes and followed him down the stairs.

"Wait here. I parked about a block away so I'll run and go get my car," He threw the door open and proceeded to start jogging down the street.

"Or we could take my truck!" I called after him.

He turned around and started back pedaling.

"Not a chance!" Jared answered before turning back around and disappearing in the distance.

Minutes later his car pulled up and I dragged both of our backpacks and threw them in the backseat before climbing into the passenger seat.

We pulled into the school parking lot, ten minutes early. His hood provided a nice seat as we waited for the bell to sound. A yellow "car" pulled up into the spot next to us before the engine died. I had no idea what kind of "car" it was. It just looked nice and wicked expensive. I wouldn't have been surprised if it transformed into a robot.

Out of it climbed our new friends from yesterday, Alice and Jasper. Alice's face lit up when she saw me and she pranced over and enveloped me in a huge hug I wouldn't have thought possible for a girl her size.

"Bella! I'm so glad to see you!" I smiled and gave a small wave to Jasper. I looked over to Jared but he had the same weird look as yesterday. His violet eyes were scrunched as he stared at Jasper who seemed to be returning the same kind look.

Alice released me from her bone crushing hug and brought me back to arm's length.

"Let's go to class. I want to talk to you about something. Come on Bells," She said before leading me away. I looked back over my shoulder and smiled at Jared.

"See you later!"

"So Bella, what's the 411? What is there to do in this town? Is there anywhere to go shopping?"

I laughed at her addiction and need for shopping.

"In Forks you're pretty much out of luck. But Seattle isn't too far away. You could take a day trip and shop there,"

"Ooh!" Alice clapped her hands together and rubbed them in anticipation. We reached our class and took our seats next to each other.

"Let's do it Bella! It'll be you, me and a whole day of shopping this weekend!" Her gold eyes danced as she looked into mine.

"Sure, I'm free Saturday I guess," I brought my purse onto the desk and dug around for my cell phone. It was nowhere in sight. I must have left it on the charger. "Why don't I give you my number and you can text me,"

Alice squealed in excitement and programmed my number into her phone.

As we were leaving class, somebody blocked our path. Lauren turned around in the doorway and focused her attention on Alice.

"Hi I'm Lauren. Just to let you know, you're hanging out with a total bitch. She may act sweet and nice, but she's really a trash talking back stabber. If you need anything, just let me know," She turned to me and smirked before walking away with my jaw on the floor.

I turned to Alice, ready to be accused of some heinous crime when she just shrugged and let out a giggle.

"Some girls are just so weird, right? So anyways I'll see you around. Bye Bells!" Alice skipped gracefully down the hall and I leaned against a locker replaying the scene in my head.

I went into history, still in total awe of Alice. I was digging through my purse, still trying to find my phone when a folded piece of paper fell onto my lap. I opened it and found only one sentence.

_I'm ready to play._

**Muahaha cliff hanger! I'm just so deliciously evil! Okay so get ready for what's to come. I'm so excited. It's gonna be awesome. **

**So send your love, criticisms, ideas, comments, etc in the form of a review! Thanks to all of the readers and reviewers! You guys totally rock. **

**-Selina**


	13. Chapter 12

Okay so I'm truly inspired right now. I'm loving where the story is at right now so I'm more and more excited to write. So enjoy!

Last time:

_I went into history, still in total awe of Alice. I was digging through my purse, still trying to find my phone when a folded piece of paper fell onto my lap. I opened it and found only one sentence. _

_I'm ready to play._

Chapter Twelve:

I felt the hot bile rising in my throat. I stumbled out of my seat and rushed out the door and into the first bathroom I came across.

Gagging with each step, I finally made it into one of the stalls and took my hand off my mouth. The contents of my stomach flew out of me. I felt my stomach spasm violently and a second later stomach acid spewed out of my mouth. I collapsed on the ground, slightly thankful I had worn jeans and boots while sitting on the bathroom floor. I weakly wiped my face with the toilet paper behind me before reaching up and flushing the toilet.

I rested my head against the hard stall divider as hot tears streaked my face. The expulsion of my stomach contents had left me feeling horribly vulnerable. I looked down and realized I still had the note clutched tightly in my left hand.

I was petrified. I couldn't escape this nightmare. It had intruded into my life and if it really was true, then that meant someone was out to get me.

I lingered in my spot, not quite ready to get up yet. My limbs felt dead and locked in place.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Bella, are you okay in there?"

I weakly turned my head to the door, my eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Bella?"

It sounded like a guy's voice but I didn't recognize it.

I struggled to my feet, shoving the note in my pocket before opening the stall door. Standing in front of me was a very concerned looking Jasper.

_No wonder I didn't recognize the voice. The guy has barely said two words since I met him._

"Jasper what are you doing in here?"

He brought his arm up behind his neck and rubbed it.

"I saw you run in here and it looked like you were going to be sick so I thought I'd check on you,"

I walked over to the sink and wet a paper towel in an attempt to make myself look normal again.

"So you followed me into the girl's bathroom? Jasper you didn't have to,"

"Actually...this is the guy's room. You must have run into the wrong one. I didn't want some guy giving you trouble,"

I stopped mid-wipe as his words sunk in. I surveyed the room and gripped the sides of the sink as the image of urinals burned into my head.

I felt like a mess. Tears welled up in my eyes and I let out a small chuckle.

"Wow I'm such a loser,"

I felt a cool hand on my shoulder and I looked at Jasper through blurry eyes.

"Hey it's okay. I accidentally went into the girl's room once. They were very nice and even offered to fix my hair,"

His story was so bizarre I laughed. A sense of calm washed over me and I felt majorly better. I grabbed for a paper towel and attempted to fix my appearance again.

_God what was it with me and crying in front of hot guys? I need to stop doing this._

"I'm sure whatever it is will work out. If you ever need a friend to talk to you can always call me or Alice. Though Alice will try and convince you that shopping is therapeutic so I'm warning you now," Jasper said before turning away

"Hey Jasper?" He stopped mid-stride and turned around. "Thanks,"

He gave me a small smile and walked out the door.

I turned my attention back to the mirror and sighed at my reflection.

"You really need to stop doing this,"

I paced outside of Jared's fourth period class as the other students exited to go to lunch. He gave me a smile when he saw me but it went away when he noticed the worry written across my face.

"Hey what's the matter? What happened?"

I pulled the note out of my pocket and handed it to him. He stared at it for a long time, his face was stoic.

"What is this?"

"I found it in my purse this morning. It's him. It's him Jared,"

We continued our conversation on the way out to his car.

"You're sure? This could just be a prank from Lauren,"

"Jared this is verbatim what the guy in my dreams has said. I never told Lauren about my nightmares. The guy from the meadow two years ago was never found. This is what he said. I will always remember that night,"

He faced me over the roof of his car, his keys in hand.

"Alright but think about it Bella. It's been two years. You think this guy is still after you? Dreams don't always come true. They just happen when you're stressed out,"

"Look I know it sounds crazy but who else could have done it? Sure anyone could play a prank on me but who would know to write that? I know it's him,"

We got in the car and sighed. Jared was quiet for a little while before he spoke again.

"Okay well what now? If you're right then you're in danger right now. What do you want to do? If you stay here, you're a sitting duck. We should tell your dad. You'll be safe if you go into hiding,"

I had never thought I would be thinking about the best way to preserve my mortality but that was definitely the topic of the day.

"No. I'm safe here. There are lots of people around and I sure don't want to drag Charlie into this and get him killed. I don't think this sick twist would do anything in public. He obviously knows my schedule. I just have to be alert. As much as I hate it, we can't do anything until he makes his move," I pointed to the note in Jared's hand. "He says he wants to play. I'll be ready for him,"

Jared grabbed my arm.

"Look you can't just give up. You have to fight this. If you're not willing to tell Charlie then let me help protect you. I'll stay with you for awhile,"

I pulled my arm away from his grasp. I was horrified.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not gonna live my life in fear because of this guy. He tried to kill me once and I lived in fear. I won't do it again. And I sure as hell am not gonna endanger yours either. Jared what if he doesn't do anything for a week, a month? Are you gonna stay with me until he does? Forget it. I'm not going to do that to you,"

Jared grabbed my head between his hands. His violet eyes were molten and penetrating as they stared intently into mine.

"Please Bella. Do it for me. I don't want to lose you,"

His voice cracked a bit on the last word and my heart swelled in my chest. I couldn't believe how fast I had truly developed feelings for him after not knowing him for that long. To hear that he felt the same way and could indeed love me as broken as I was, it made me feel as if I was breathing for the first time.

"Okay," I whispered. "You can stay,"

**Totes cute moment? Totes. **

**Anyways thanks for reading! I'm not sure if my next update will be as fast as the past couple but keep your fingers crossed! Oh you know what would help inspire me? Reviewing. It doesn't even have to be very long. Just give me some insight on how you feel the story is doing. Do you hate it, love it, want some more fluff? Reviews make me very happy.**

"**Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands," - Legally Blonde**

**So Review, Review, Review!**

**-Selina**


	14. Chapter 13

Okay so I'm truly inspired right now. I'm loving where the story is at right now so I'm more and more excited to write. So enjoy!

Last time:

"_Please Bella. Do it for me. I don't want to lose you," _

_ His voice cracked a bit on the last word and my heart swelled in my chest. I couldn't believe how fast I had truly developed feelings for him after not knowing him for that long. To hear that he felt the same way and could indeed love me as broken as I was, it made me feel as if I was breathing for the first time. _

_ "Okay," I whispered. "You can stay,"_

_. _

Chapter Thirteen:

For the rest of the day, Jared was attached to my side. Everywhere I went, I found myself wondering:

_Is he watching me? Is he here now? _

When we got back to the house after school, we sat on the couch, the silence enveloping us.

"We can't just sit here," he said through gritted teeth.

I sighed and stared at the wall. After a while, the spot turned fuzzy until I dared to blink.

"Well I don't really know what to do. I have no idea who the heck this guy even is or when exactly he's gonna want to "play". He sounds like a sadistic creep. I mean why wait two years? All we can do is be ready and protect ourselves," I answered.

"I'm still hoping this is all just some stupid prank. You said Lauren was pissed. This could just be her. I hope it's just her,"

I turned towards him and saw a look of distress etched onto Jared's face. I snuggled closer into him and he held me in his arms as we lay there on the couch.

"Yeah, me too," I agreed softly and tried to forget about the world around us.

When Charlie got home, I made the necessary amount of small talk before retiring rather early for the night. Jared left to go take care of things at home while I took a shower. As I stepped out of the bathroom, I stood in the middle of the hallway, focused on the closed door to my bedroom. I made my way slowly over to the door, anxious to see what was on the other side. I reached out and grabbed the brass knob, the metal cool to my touch. I gradually turned the knob to the left and pushed the door forward. The latch creaked as the entry way opened up before me. I took another step forward and took in the scene.

Nothing. I was alone. My skin felt feverish and I walked over to the window and felt the cool gusts of air embrace my body. I left my hands hanging on the sill above me and sighed. I gazed out and saw nothing but trees. I was entranced by their movement. Wherever the wind blew them, the limbs had no choice but to follow with their leaves whispering their secrets with each other.

"Bella!"

I yelped and stumbled backwards. I tripped on the rug and hardly met the ground.

Jared quickly clambered his way over the sill and dragged himself into the room. He whirled around and forcibly shut the window shut and latched the lock. His face was a mixture of fear and rage as he turned back around to face me.

"You're scaring me. What's going on?" My voice cracked.

"Bella he was out there! He was watching you! Are all the doors locked? What about the windows? Shut the blinds!"

"Whoa whoa wait what? Explain. Now,"

Jared pulled the blinds down and strode over to the bedroom door and locked it. He turned towards me and swiftly explained.

"I was on my way back. I got into the backyard and saw him standing there, hiding behind a tree. He was watching you Bella. I ran after him. He jumped over the stone fence into the Johnson yard. When I tried to follow, I slipped. I lost him. God I should have killed him!" He grabbed a pillow off my bed and slammed it down on the floor.

I picked myself up and made my way over him. I gently placed my hands on his shoulders and leaned in until my head was against his chest.

"Did you see what he looked like?"

He stood rigid in his spot.

"No. He was wearing a hoodie," He muttered. I could feel the emotion seeping into response.

"Hey, look at me," I grabbed his face between my hands and made him look at me.

"We're gonna get this guy,"

I had to get him to calm down. I didn't want him to worry now. I was plenty freaked out as it was. My limbs felt weak. My legs were shaking violently beneath me and my stomach felt like it was doing world class flips at the Olympics.

"Bella-"

"Shh. Let's just get some rest," I didn't want to think about all of this anymore. I didn't want to think about death anymore. Not now.

I pushed him towards the bed and got him to lie down. I grabbed his arms and put them around as I laid my head against his cool chest. Jared remained silent during the whole process.

"Please. I just don't want to spend our time worrying. I just want to forget,"

I felt cold hands on my head, playing with my hair.

"Okay. Go to sleep Bells,"

_I was in the meadow. The scene was exactly like it was the last time. This time Edward was in front of me._

"_Bella! It's him! It's him Bella! You need to run," I frantically looked around._

"_Who Edward? I don't know who you're talking about,"_

_Then the most horrible and vicious roar sounded off to the side._

_I was about to look over when a shadow raced and Edward disappeared in it. An awful growl came from the shadow. I blinked and the shadow turned into a man hidden beneath heavy clothing. The figure reached out and grabbed my throat, squeezing tight._

_Glowing white fangs shown beneath a blood red smile._

"_I can't wait,"_

"Bella! Bella I'm leaving! Are you up?"

I groaned as Charlie's voice rang in my ears.

"Yeah, yeah I'm up," I tried to yell back but my voice was weak from sleep.

"Hey Bella, looks like you got a present waiting for you down here! Bye!"

_Present? Wait what?_

I crawled out of bed and staggered down the stairs. Half asleep, I looked around the door and out on the patio. I couldn't find anything. I tried to focus; my eyelids were drooping and blinding my vision. Then something stood out on my truck. I grabbed a vest off the coat hook and went outside, my bare feet walking across the cool grass.

I reached my truck and grabbed the bundle on top of the hood.

It was a bundle of flowers, white lilies. Between the stems was a note tucked inside.

Soon.

I glanced around before walking over to the garbage can and ripping apart the flowers.

_Son of a b-_

"Bella? What's going on?"

"Oh, I just needed some air. It felt stuffy in there,"

Jared paused for a minute. I was worried that he might have seen me throwing away the flowers but then he shrugged.

"Okay well we gotta get ready for school,"

"Alright," I took one last look around before heading back in.

Jared didn't say a word the rest of the morning. I didn't know what to say. I could barely console myself.

I walked in Spanish in a daze. My mind was a total mess and was totally concentrated on everything but school.

_Why did I even bother to come?_

"Bella! Yoo-hoo! Earth to Bella!"

I shook my head and concentrated on the pixie in front of me.

"Uh yeah. Hi,"

Alice tried to read me.

"Are you okay Bellsy? You look sad?"

"I just have a lot going on right now. That's all,"

"Aww Bellsy! Oh my gosh! I just had the best idea! Okay so we're supposed to go shopping on Saturday right?"

I hesitated.

"Yeah…"

"Well what if we have a girls night on Friday? Slumber party! Then we can get an early start on Saturday! It'll be sooo much fun!"

I thought back to Jared and, oh yeah, the guy who was trying to kill me. I also didn't want to drag Alice into this. What if he got her?

"I don't know Alice,"

The petite girl hopped out of her seat and kneeled next to my desk. Her big eyes pleaded with me.

"Please? It's just one night! Come on! You look like you could totally use the stress relief,"

"Well…"

"Oh yay! That's a yes for sure! Great! Come over to my house tomorrow evening and we will have tons of fun. Oh my goodness I'm gonna plan an awesome night..."

Alice continued rambling on and I smiled at how persistent she could be. Jared would not agree to her plans but he definitely needed a break from all of this, whether he realized it or not. He may love me but this was going to drive him crazy without a break from all of this. I felt so selfish to be using his love this way. But I needed him calm and rational because I needed someone to keep me sane. Was that so much to ask?

Things were only going to get worse from here and we needed to be ready for this guy. I couldn't let him win. We had to beat him. No matter what.

**Oooh . What will happen next? Only I know! And any of you guys who can pick up on it. Feel free to guess. I just might not confirm it if it's true ;)**

**Reviews make me very happy. (hint hint)(wink wink)**

**So Review, Review, Review!**

**-Selina**


	15. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews!**

**BreeT: I always look forward to hearing from you.**

**Draco2: Yep, It's totally Sabertooth. Lol**

**Summerleigh81: I leave my phone alone for an hour and come back to all kinds of reviews from you! You're awesome!**

**Alright! Let's get on with the show!**

Last time:

_Alice continued rambling on and I smiled at how persistent she could be. Jared would not agree to her plans but he definitely needed a break from all of this, whether he realized it or not. He may love me but this was going to drive him crazy without a break from all of this. I felt so selfish to be using his love this way. But I needed him calm and rational because I needed someone to keep me sane. Was that so much to ask? _

_Things were only going to get worse from here and we needed to be ready for this guy. I couldn't let him win. We had to beat him. No matter what... _

Chapter Fourteen:

The next morning I woke up with a tense feeling in my stomach. The dream from last night had left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

_I was stumbling through the woods. It was pitch black. I could barely see anything in front of me and I kept tripping over rocks and tree roots. I glanced back over my shoulder to see if he was still following me. My heart was pounding painfully hard in my chest and I was scared he could hear it. I had no sense of direction; no idea where the heck I was. I couldn't let him find me. I had to keep running. The wind was strongly pushing against me and I could barely breathe. I tripped and went sailing into the hard cold earth. I panicked and wobbled as I got back on my feet. I looked behind me, pleading that he hadn't found me yet._

_A soft chuckle from in front of me made my blood freeze. A whimper escaped my lips as I turned back around. Suddenly a hand was at my throat crushing my lungs. I couldn't breathe. Tears streamed down from my eyes as I just stared at him. His face twisted with a sickening grin as he watched me struggle. The world around me was fuzzy and I could feel myself passing out, a relief from this pain. _

_His voice rang out as my vision disappeared._

_"Gotcha,"_

I flipped over in bed and saw Jared, still asleep. I gazed at him and smiled. He looked so peaceful. I couldn't wait until all this was over. Then we could have picnics at the park, not worrying about death threats. Yesterday he barely said anything the entire day. After school we had come back and did our homework, barely speaking. I was scared to tell him about my sleepover with Alice.

_Jared was staring out the window as I finished getting ready to go to sleep. I tried digging through my purse, yet again, to find my phone but it was still nowhere to be found. I hadn't needed it lately but it still bugged me to not know where it was._

_I sighed and looked up at Jared. I took a deep breath, bracing myself._

_"So Alice invited me to sleep over tomorrow night…"_

_I could see him tense up. He turned back around and faced me, not saying anything._

_"…and you deserve a night to relax without having to worry about any of this so I think I'm gonna go," I finished quickly._

_"Bella, I don't know. I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't wanna be controlling but I'm just worried about you,"_

_"I'll be fine. It's just one night. The worst that can happen is Alice giving me a makeover," I explained rolling my eyes. "Then I'm all yours tomorrow night," and winked at him._

I ran my hand through his unruly bronze hair and let it trail down his cool face, lingering on his cheek. A cool hand held mine into place and soon a pair of violet eyes slowly opened and gazed into mine.

"Morning," he said yawning.

"Hey sleepy head,"

He folded my hand and brought it to his mouth, giving it a peck.

"You know what we should do? We should go dancing," I laughed.

"We have school!"

"No, we should go one night. There must be a place around here to learn how to dance. You and me. We'll go one night and dance all night long," He explained.

"Well you'll have to take it slow. I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kinda clumsy,"

Jared pretended to be shocked.

"Never would have guessed. You're just so graceful Swan,"

He started poking me and I tried to defend myself but I was much weaker than him. The poke war was over for me only a few short minutes later. He held both of my hands above my head with only one of his.

He leaned down and pecked me on the nose while keeping his gaze. He smiled and climbed off the bed.

"Well come on then. Time to get up and stop being a lazy bum!" I threw a pillow at him as he disappeared out of the room. A flash of my dream entered my thoughts and left me with that same bit of tension in my stomach. I couldn't help but thinking that something felt different today.

"Swan! Don't make me go get you," Jared yelled from the other room and I could swear I heard a faint growl.

I opened my mouth to tell him about the feeling in my gut but I stopped and shook my head.

_Get it together Bella. You're losing it._

I was heading out to Jared's car after a nice and uneventful day when I felt a small hand on my arm. I whirled around to find Alice.

"Bells! What time are you going to be at my house?"

"Uhh well Jared's going to drop me off and then I have to get my stuff together. How about seven thirty? I could pick up a pizza on the way?"

"Yay! I'll rent some good movies for our slumber party and get everything set up. Okay so I gave you my address this morning and oh my goodness I'm so excited!" Alice was bouncing up and down with joy. The sight was enough to make me giggle.

"I think I lost my phone so I'll call you from the house when I'm getting ready to leave," I explained.

"Alice!"

We looked over to Jasper waiting to go.

"Oh Jasper relax! Well bye Bells! See you at seven thirty!" She then skipped away to her car.

Jared was waiting for me inside his car. I got in and was greeted by the warm interior.

He started the car and started the drive back to my house.

"So what do you do at slumber parties? Do you have pillow fights and paint each other nails?"

"Ha ha ha. No we eat a bunch of junk food and watch movies and play pranks on people. I'd watch out if I were you Jared. Wait, I don't even know where you live! Where _do_ you live anyways?"

"Nuh uh. I'm not telling you just so you can prank me. I'll take you to my house one day. Nice try Swan,"

"Boo," I fake pouted, "In whose lawn am I going to put all the plastic forks I bought?"

Straight-faced he turned toward me and answered.

"Lauren,"

We pulled up to my house and Jared put his car in park.

"Are you sure you wanna go? We could always watch movies here, just you and me,"

I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned towards him and grabbed his head in my grasp.

"Yes, I'm sure. Go, have fun doing guy things. I'll be back to annoy you tomorrow afternoon after my shopping trip with Alice. I gotta go get ready. I told her I would be there at seven thirty,"

"Alright, kiss for the road?"

I smiled and pulled him close.

"Of course,"

We sat there, lost in each other for an immeasurable amount of time. Finally I pulled myself apart and made myself get out.

I started toward the house when I heard my name.

I circled back around toward Jared.

"I love you,"

A feeling of warmth and content flooded over me and I gave him a wide grin.

"I love you too,"

I stood in the driveway as he drove away and disappeared around a corner. I barely felt the cold gusts of wind, his words were entrancing my thoughts and the warm sensation of happiness filled me. I felt on top of the world as I walked inside. I grabbed Charlie's old gym bag off the coat hook and took it up to my room. I picked up the clothes that were lying on top of the laundry basket and stuffed them in the bag, not bothering to see what I was packing. My big marshmallow jacket was draped across my chair. I tried it on and instantly felt warm and cozy. I yawned and felt my eyelids start to droop.

The clock on my desk read 4:00. I had three and a half hours before I had to be at Alice's. My bed looked so inviting. I kept my jacket on as I curled into bed to take a short nap.

_Just a quick nap and then I'll go call Alice and head out. God knows I'll need the energy with what she has planned for tonight._

I fell out of bed and staggered down the stairs. The phone was blaring and gave me a headache as I tried my best to wake fully up.

_Ugh I probably slept really late. Alice is going to kill me._

I yawned into the phone as I answered it.

"Aahhello?"

"Bella?"

I was still working on opening my eyes all the way.

"Oh hey Jared whatsss up?"

"Bella I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,"

The desperate tone of his voice scared me.

"Jared what's going on? Are you alright? Tell me,"

"I got a text from your phone saying you were here at the meadow and you wanted me to meet you here. But you weren't here and _he_ was. God I'm so sorry Bella. He tricked me,"

"Wait you got a text from my phone-" My heart beat quickened as I thought back to the last couple of days. I hadn't seen my phone since Tuesday. Then that night… I felt frozen. That night the window to my room had been open.

"Nooo,"

"Bella. He made me call you. He says he'll kill me unless you come here alone. I'm so sorry Bella. This is all my fault,"

Tears built up in my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks.

"I love you Bell-"

"Jared?" I squeaked. I pulled the phone away and looked at it.

"Jared are you there?"

I heard a click and then silence.

"Jared?"

**Yeah I know. You all probably hate me. That's a terrible cliff hanger and I know it sucks but stay tuned okay? Things are about to get majorly crazy and you don't want to miss this! Reviews help motivate me to update faster so I suggest reviewing and I'll get the next chapter out to you soon! **

**-Selina**


	16. Chapter 15

Ohmygoodness. You guys sent in so many reviews for the last chapter! Thank you so much! I caught a bug that's been going around so I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner! Anyways, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

Last time:

_"Bella. He made me call you. He says he'll kill me unless you come here alone. I'm so sorry Bella. This is all my fault,"_

_Tears built up in my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks._

"_I love you Bell-"_

"_Jared?" I squeaked. I pulled the phone away and looked at it._

"_Jared are you there?"_

_I heard a click and then silence._

_ "Jared?"_

Chapter Fifteen:

I slammed the phone back on the wall, my mind racing at high speed. I had to get to the meadow and save Jared.

I tore my keys off the hook and bolted for the door. My hand was wrapped around the knob when I jerked back around. I rushed over to the coffee table and pulled open the drawer. I stuck my arm in and felt around until I felt the cool object under my hand. I slid my hand back to me, grabbed the object and stuck it in my back pocket before running back out the door.

The engine startled me made me jump when I turned the key in the ignition and I yelped. I sobbed even harder as I reversed and put the car in drive.

Two guys, two loves of mine had been torn away from me by some maniac hell bent on making me miserable. This man was making my life into some game, watching me play puppet in his show.

The sky was starting to darken as I drove along the highway. The clock on the dashboard read seven. My foot was shaking violently against the gas pedal and my vision was blurry from the tears falling from my eyes.

My heart bracelet felt like it was weighing down my hand. _Edward._ I almost felt like this was some kind of punishment for moving on from him. Fate was trying to penalize me for giving away my heart again.

_Oh god. This is all my fault. _

Memories washed over me and made my whole body ache.

_It was New Years Eve and I had agreed to go with Edward and his parents to their cabin at the lake for the night. I was outside crying, it was four years exactly since my mom and step dad had passed away in a car crash with a drunk driver. The whole night I had tried to put on a brave face and mask my pain but when I saw how sweet Edward's parents were towards each other, I snuck out to get some air. I was sitting on the side of the cabin, staring up at the sky, lost in the stars when I heard join me. _

"_You miss them huh?"_

"_Yeah," I managed to get out. I was choked up, trying my best not to cry. _

_I felt his arm wrap around me and pull me closer to him._

"_I'm sorry love. I'm sure she's watching down on you right now, proud of how amazing you've turned out to be,"_

"_Yeah, I hope so,"_

_Fireworks exploded before our eyes and sparkled in the night sky. I could hear an air horn go off from inside the cabin._

_I turned towards Edward. He was smiling me, his green eyes lighting up with each pop of the firecrackers going off._

"_Happy New Year Bella,"_

"_Happy New Year Edward,"_

The memory faded away as I took the turn off onto the dirt road, weeping harder as more of scenery began to look more and more familiar. I was getting closer and the memories kept pounding control of my thoughts.

_It was the Thanksgiving before Renee passed away. She had sent me a camera for my birthday earlier that year and insisted that I take lots and lots of pictures. Jacob, my best friend at the time, was moving away in January so on Thanksgiving I managed to get both Edward and Jacob to stand for a picture. It had taken awhile too. Jacob had kept complaining that he was hungry and if he didn't get pie soon he was going to start attacking people. Edward, on the other hand, kept trying to get out of the whole thing by saying pictures just weren't his thing._

_ "Edward come on! One picture won't hurt you!"_

_ "Bella I always blink or look like a monster in photos!"_

_ "I want pie!"_

_ "Jacob Black you can have pie when we are good and done! Edward just one photo and then I won't ask again."_

_ "Fine…"_

_ "Pie Pie Pie I cannot lie. Sigh. I might just die if my stomach does not get pie."_

_ I set the timer on the camera and ran over to them while trying not to fall. I turned and smiled for the camera and didn't notice that at the last second Edward had pulled out his Ray Ban sunglasses. So the picture was of Edward with his arm around my waist and in sunglasses, me with my arm around Jacob's shoulders and Jacob making a funny face._

I put my truck in park as I arrived to the entry into the forest that Edward had showed me. I took a deep breath and looked around.

The sky was a deep grey and I knew that if I didn't start out now, I would be stumbling around the forest in complete darkness, a sitting duck for a predator.

I was scared out of my mind. I knew that there was a good chance I wouldn't survive.

No. I needed to face my monster. Jared was in trouble because of me. I had to try.

I started toward the forest and clenched my fists, one around a flashlight, as I entered the covering of trees.

Nothing looked familiar. The dark overcast made the trees appear lifeless. The grass was dead beneath my feet. I stayed on a path and tried to go in one direction toward the inner heart of the forest. I could hear my heart racing with every step I took. I unclenched and clenched my hands. I felt like I couldn't breathe. My lungs couldn't get their fill of air. My nose runny from how much I was crying. Every little sound around me made me whimper and jump but I continued on.

I had no idea if I was going the right way. I kept walking but stopped when I saw something that made my stomach drop. It may have been getting dark but one of the bushes has a unnatural reddish tint on one side. I approach it and bring a stem up closer to my eyes. There's a red liquid pooled in the middle of a leaf. A drop falls and lands on my skin. My instincts kick in, telling me what it is.

_Blood_

I grip the flashlight tighter in my grip and keep moving forward. This is his game. He was trying to have his fun toying with me. I had no choice but to play.

I kept walking, passing other blood stained rocks and bushes, pointing me in the direction I was supposed to go. He had planned this all out, just for me.

I reached a path that led to a tunnel of trees. A chill went down my spine as the image of the area glowing with sunlight flashed before my eyes. This was definitely the right way. Voices haunted me as I journeyed on.

"_Are we there yet?" _

"_No love, not yet," _

I could see a spot in the distance that looked a bit brighter than the rest of the forest. I was grabbing the flashlight as hard as I could. I was approaching the opening fast and I felt like I was going to be violently ill.

Each step I took sounded like a giant explosion and my breath got more ragged. He would hear me. I was only a couple of yards away from the meadow. I looked all around me, between the trees. I paused at the mouth of trees and gazed around the clearing. One final memory flitted before me.

_I reached the light and pulled aside the last of the fencing fern to fully step into the golden halo. I gasped as I fully saw where I was._

_ The meadow was small, filled with colorful wildflowers and grass that was soft as silk. I could hear the sounds of a stream nearby. I walked further into the meadow that, lit up by the sunlight, looked like a heavenly sanctuary._

_ A pair of warm arms wrapped around my waist. _

_ "Happy Anniversary," Edward whispered in my ear._

"_It's beautiful," I said still awestruck._

_ "The beauty of this meadow is nothing compared to you," he whispered as he kissed along my jaw. I turned so that I was facing him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I gazed into his emerald green eyes and felt my heart beat faster._

_ "I love you, "I exclaimed._

_ "I love you too," he announced and pulled me closer._

**NEXT CHAPTER! It's going to be E-P-I-C. I know you're all shaking you're fists at me right now but don't you worry. As I type this out, I have the next chapter already started in an open word document ready to be typed. Reviews do help speed up this process though. Share some love! **

**Until next time! **

**-Selina**


	17. Chapter 16

Oh my word. The number of reviews I got was insane! I loved it. Lol

Special thanks to:

Summerleigh81

Matthias Stormcrow 22

BreeT

I have gotten so many reviews from you three it's ridiculous. Y'all are legen…wait for it…dary!

Oh and I want to clear up a quick fact. Jared has no ties to the Jared already from the books. When I was first starting to write this story, I just was trying to pick a random name for a guy. So no he is not a werewolf.

Dun Dun Dun. Here we go!

Last time:

_Each step I took sounded like a giant explosion and my breath got more ragged. He would hear me. I was only a couple of yards away from the meadow. I looked all around me, between the trees. I paused at the mouth of trees and gazed around the clearing._

Chapter Sixteen:

The light from the sky had mostly disappeared and night had taken its place. Everything was dead around me. The grass was lifeless and the flowers were black and shriveled up. The wind was strongly coursing through the trees.

I could see no sign of Jared anywhere. I took a couple of steps into the clearing. I felt like I was wading through deep waters.

"Jared?" I cried softly.

I glanced around me, adrenaline surged throughout my body. My hand felt sweaty gripped around the flashlight.

"Jared?"

"Bellaa,"

I whirled around but saw nothing but the trees bending in the wind.

"I'm here. It's your move now. Where is Jared?" I said my voice a bit stronger now.

The wind growled at me and was accompanied by a dark laugh coming from somewhere close.

"Where is he?" I yelled toward the trees.

"Glad to see you came,"

I could feel his breath on my ear and I was frozen in my spot.

"It's you, isn't it? From two years ago?"

I heard him chuckle. Then I felt a pair of cool lips trail from my neck up and around my ear. My knees were furiously shaking together and I didn't dare breathe.

His lips stopped in the middle of my earlobe as he whispered;

"Yess,"

A whimper broke out of my lungs and I felt the desperate urge to run away.

My trance was broken and I sent my elbow behind me. But pain shot up my arm as my elbow connected against hard rock. I dropped the flashlight, cradled my arm against me and ran. I knew I couldn't outrun him but I had to put some distance between us.

"Foolish girl,"

I set my sights on a tree on the other side of the clearing and concentrated on sprinting towards it. I was running when my foot caught on something and I went flying through the air before plunging headfirst into the hard, compact ground.

I tried getting up to my feet quickly before my head was pounding and I felt immensely dizzy. The meadow was spinning before me.

I staggered to my feet and gripped my head. I looked down to see what I had tripped over and was mortified.

My legs collapsed beneath me and I crawled around on my knees and threw up on the ground next to me. Hot tears streaked down my face and I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. I gazed back at the sight and choked out a sob. It was a body, mangled and covered in blood. I went over and checked his pulse. I felt nothing.

_Oh my god. This is all my fault. _

"What did he have to do with this? You had no reason to kill him!" I screamed at the hooded figure in front of me.

"Where do you think I got all the blood from for your signs?"

I remembered all the blood streaks throughout the forest and gagged.

"You are a monster. Why are you doing this?"

He stood still, watching me

"Answer me!"

The wind roared around us before he answered.

"Two years ago, I came across you and your boyfriend, here in the meadow. Edward was his name right?" I could hear him sneer at the flash of pain that crossed my face at the mention of Edward. "I was bored and when I saw you two, the way you both were acting, I decided to have a little bit of fun. So I dropped in and interrupted _date night_. Your boyfriend was piteous. He told you to run away while he stayed and tried to save you both. Cute right? I let him run and try to lead me away in the opposite direction before he bored me and I quickly caught up and grabbed him. I grabbed him by the throat and squeezed tightly.

'Please leave Bella alone. Kill me instead' he pleaded. It was almost touching. I paused for a moment. Then I bit him,"

I had sat there, horrified by this story but now confused.

"You what? You _bit_ him?"

"Didn't I tell you darling? I'm a _vampire_,"

_A vampire? Vampires don't exist. _

Then something clicked.

_Edward was dead, killed by a vampire. I'm here alone. I'm- I'm being hunted by a vampire. _

The wind coursed strongly through the meadow. It was tugging me towards the creature in front of me. I grabbed onto the ground and tried to stay where I was.

I watched as the hood flew out with the wind and settled just below his copper hair.

My lips trembled and my body went numb.

_No no no no no no. _

"It was you? It couldn't be. You did this?"

_He _laughed and sneered at me.

"You know a lot of movies make fun of the villain's big monologue but I have to say, it's actually kind of necessary. Especially when the main character is as gullible and dense as you,"

"Why Jared? Why did you do all of this?" I motioned to Charlie's bloody body in front of me. "I trusted you,"

"God you're pathetic," A look of disgust crossed his face and I gasped. His eyes, they were a deep blood red with no trace of blue. "After I killed your weak boyfriend, I saw you running blindly through the forest. Killing you would have been too easy. But I wondered what was so special about you that Edward spent his last moments alive sacrificing his life to save yours. So I let you live. I left you alone for two whole years, watching you. Then I got bored so I went on the hunt again. I got close to you, became your friend. I pretended that I loved you. It did help that my hair was the same color as your beloveds. Contacts also helped mask my red eyes. '_Bella I really care for you. I love you. Don't leave me,' _It was just too easy. I bet another day or two and I would have gotten into your pants. You're pathetic. You had just met me and you were already telling me that you loved me. God you're stupid,"

I couldn't breathe. My heart felt like it ceased it exist and a big gaping hole had taken its place. I had been so foolish. I felt so horribly betrayed. All I wanted to do was get into the fetal position and stay there. My eyes felt so swollen from crying as I gazed up at the monster standing in front of me.

"So this was all a part of your plan?" I barked.

"Well actually," Jared started, glancing around. "I had meant to draw this out a little bit longer but then _they_ came to town and I knew that they were going to try and stop me tonight when you went over. So I had to move things up a bit earlier than I expected,"

"Before I went over tonight? Before I went over to Alice and Jasper's? They knew about you?" Disbelief coated my voice.

"Oh yes _love_. You see they're vampires too,"

My mind was spinning.

_Vampires. Alice and Jasper are vampires. Jared's a vampire. Jared killed Charlie. Jared killed Edward._

_Jared killed Edward._

Anger built up inside of me. I put my hand on my back and slowly slid it down until it was in my pocket and wrapped around the object.

Jared fake yawned and checked his watch.

"I'm done talking. It's time to play,"

His sharp white teeth shone in the light of the moon and his lips were a deep velvety shade of red. His copper hair looked like fire in the moonlight and his skin was a ghostly pale.

He truly was a monster.

I knew I didn't have much time left. I recalled the summer after Edward had disappeared. How Charlie had made sure I learned how to defend myself.

I whipped the gun out of my back pocket, cocked it and shot off two rounds.

I then felt a searing pain in my hand as the gun was twisted out of my hand.

"You really are dumb aren't you? You can't shoot a vampire. Don't you know anything? I'm faster, stronger and smarter than you,"

Another unbearable pain in my back and I went sailing across the field into more dirt. My head collided with something hard and I felt something hot start to mix with my hair and roll down my forehead. I struggled to get up, my head was spinning and my legs felt like lead.

I knew it was useless but I tried to run away. My vision was so blurred I didn't know which way I was going so long as it was away from him.

I had barely stumbled two steps when Jared appeared in front of me.

"Baby don't go. The fun is just getting started,"

He smirked and then grabbed at my shirt and tore it. The motion was so quick and I was so weak that I fell back down to the dirt.

"Please," I begged. "Please don't do this Jared," Sobs poured out of me and he knelt down next to me and grinned.

"You humans are all alike. Say hi to Edward for me,"

I was in an immense amount of pain, physically and mentally. My head felt like it had been ripped apart. My vision was becoming darker by the second as I lost consciousness. My last sight before blacking out was of Jared. His eyes were ablaze just like his hair. His blood red mouth was open wide with his teeth shining brightly under the moonlight as he inched closer and closer to me.

_Please, Don't…._

**Yep, I know. It kills you doesn't it? I almost changed my initial idea because it broke my heart make Jared the bad guy. But it had to be done. If you go back and reread past chapters and pay attention, you can kind of see where I dropped a couple of hints, here and there. **

**As always review! If you have any questions, I'll be answering those.**

**However, story is not over here folks. I've got something planned that will totally make you love me again. So keep reading!**

**-Selina**


	18. Chapter 17

**I'm alive!**

**Sorry for the lack of review! The past couple of days have been awful. My step dad served my mom with divorce papers and kicked her out. Ugh. So writing wasn't really on my mind...**

**Anyways! Wow! The amount of love for the last chapter was practically breath taking. I'm still in shock that people actually like my writing. Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Cbmorefie**

**BreeT**

**Draco2**

**Matthias Stormcrow 22**

**Cooper**

**Summerleigh81**

**You guys truly made my day. And also thanks to anyone reading! I get a huge smile whenever I get an email for a new story alert or favorite story alert.**

**Alright, here we go!**

Last time:

_"You humans are all alike. Say hi to Edward for me,"_

_I was in an immense amount of pain, physically and mentally. My head felt like it had been ripped apart. My vision was becoming darker by the second as I lost consciousness. My last sight before blacking out was of Jared. His eyes were ablaze just like his hair. His blood red mouth was open wide with his teeth shining brightly under the moonlight as he inched closer and closer to me._

_Please, Don't…._

Chapter Seventeen:

The unbearable pain kept me from peacefully blacking out. I was stuck somewhere between awake and passed out. My eyes kept fluttering open and I caught glimpses of what was going on.

I saw Jared leaning over me, getting ready to kill me. His red eyes trained on my neck, a sinister and cruel smile spread across his face.

_I want this to end already. I'm so tired._

The pain grew and grew and I felt like I had burst into flames, about to combust.

Then I heard noises. I couldn't distinguish what it was. I was in a trance, enveloped in pain. The noises reminded me of those lions I had seen in a documentary, so angry.

_Maybe the lions will kill me._

I prayed for death. It seemed like such sweet relief to how much my body felt like I was sinking in a pool of lava.

Such loud noises sounded around me, voices too. I could hear voices but it sounded like I was underwater and couldn't make out a thing they were saying.

Then I felt my body being lifted, but through all of the physical agony, it was more like I was being dragged. My body seemed to be attracted to the ground.

_Just kill me already._

And then I was falling, spiraling down from an imaginary skyscraper. I greeted the earth warmly before finally blacking out.

_He advanced tow__ards me and I took a step back. I realized I had my back against the trunk of his car. His hand went on the car and the other trailed down my face, giving me chills. His hand stopped under my chin and his eyes searched mine. _

_And then we were kissing. My hands ran through his soft copper hair and wrapped him closer to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, picked me up and sat me on the car. His body felt so warm against mine, I just wanted to bury myself in it and stay in this moment, time stopped and surrounded by this never ending warmth for eternity. _

_We both ran out of breath and had to pause. We stood there, my cheek lay against his and I soaked up his warmth as though the sun was never going to shine again. _

I found myself staring at wall. I had no idea how long I had been staring at it or if I was even awake. I gazed down and saw my comforter was wrapped around me.

"Bella,"

I rolled over and saw the love of my life.

"Oh Edward," I tried to scoot closer to him but my body hurt and I let out a yelp of pain.

"Shh Shh. Don't move," He whispered and moved closer and bundled me up in his arms. I started crying into his sweet-smelling chest. I didn't care if this was just a dream. I was with Edward, my Edward. I spent many months crying over his death. Now he was here and we were together. His arms felt nice and cool on my body and I couldn't help but be happy.

"Edward. Oh Edward. I love you so much. I miss- I miss you," I sobbed out.

"Shh Bella. Bella I love you too. I always have and always will," He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

I raised my head and searched until he realized what I was looking for. He found my lips and tried to kiss me lightly. I leaned in and threw myself into it. My heart swelled in my chest at this form of love lost and found again.

I was out of breath too soon for my liking, each new one coming out ragged. He was gazing at me the whole time I tried steadying my breathing. I couldn't beat to tear my eyes away from his. Even if the sky suddenly became a black hole that sucked everything up I wouldn't look away. I only had the span of a dream to spend with him. Then I would wake up and have to face my reality for what it was, perpetual heartbreak.

His hands rubbed my back in soothing circles and I melted in his embrace.

"Bella what have you gotten yourself into?"

I nestled in closer, not wanting to answer. I didn't want to waste this precious time thinking about everything wrong in my life.

"We only get to be together for a short time in this dream and you want to waste it talking about that? Man I thought I was in charge here,"

Edward continued to gaze intensely down at me with new golden eyes. My mind had robbed me of their color which looked even more vivid than usual.

"Just rest Bella," he sighed and began to hum as I lay in his arms. I felt so peaceful and at rest. I was stealing one more night with Edward and I didn't want it to end. I silently pleaded with time to stand still, just for awhile…

**Not much, I know. I wanted to get an update out there for you guys. It's just a small fix until I can get a chance to really write something decent. **

**Stay tuned! **

**-Selina**


	19. Chapter 18

Happy New Year!

I do realize how much time has passed since my last update, and I would like to apologize. You guys have been truly amazing and awesome. A part of me didn't want to post this last chapter up because I knew it would be the end of a story I'm pretty proud of.

But anyways, this story has been a fun one to write and thank you to all the fans! You gave me inspiration.

Last time:

_"Edward continued to gaze intensely down at me with new golden eyes. My mind had robbed me of their color which looked even more vivid than usual._

"_Just rest Bella," he sighed and began to hum as I lay in his arms. I felt so peaceful and at rest. I was stealing one more night with Edward and I didn't want it to end. I silently pleaded with time to stand still, just for awhile…"_

Chapter Eighteen:

I could feel his soft fingers along my scalp, playing with my hair. His touch sent chills throughout my body. It felt like an electric current was flowing through my veins and I had a sensation of lightness spreading through my head.

"Edward, there's no way I can go back to sleep. Wait, how does one exactly go back to sleep when in a dream?"

The moonlight shining through the window cast a soft glow on his face. His expression seemed muddled, as if he was thinking very hard about something.

"I tried to stay away. I tried so hard. Damn it. What has he done?" he muttered, gazing out the window.

I gave him a quizzical look and sat there, staring at him, waiting for an answer.

He exhaled and returned his gaze back to me.

"Bella, I- I don't know where to start,"

A feeling of dread slowly seeped into the electric current throughout my body. I felt nervous, anxious.

"Umm, how about why this dream is starting to feel like a nightmare?"

"I'm so sorry. I've become your personal nightmare," His hand stopped running through my hair and was pulling away. I reached up, whimpering slightly and grabbed it back. I held his giant hand between my two smaller ones. Tears raced down my cheeks and onto the blanket.

"Life without you is a nightmare," I pulled his hand up to my face and set it on my cheek. "There's no way you could bring me any sort of pain. Now please, tell me what is going on,"

His thumb caressed my cheek and we sat there for a good couple of minutes. His face described an internal war going on and I couldn't help but think that we were wasting precious time.

He dropped his hand onto my lap and interlaced it back with mine.

"Well I guess we have to start at the beginning. But first, Bella, you need to realize something. Love, this isn't a dream. I wish I could tell you otherwise but none of what happened was part of a dream,"

My head felt heavier as I began to comprehend exactly what he was saying.

"Wait a minute. So _everything_ that happened was real? Even the stuff in the meadow? How? What so vampires are real?" A horrid thought hit me. "So Charlie really is dead?" I choked out and felt cold needles prick my body all over.

"I'm so sorry Bella," Edward whispered, hugging me closer.

"E- Explain. What the hell is going on?" I could feel the sobs building inside of me.

"Two years ago was when this all started. You and I were at the meadow,"

A sob escaped my throat at the mere reference of that night.  
>"Jared was indeed the person who attacked us that night. I told you to run as he went after me. I begged him to spare you and take me instead. He laughed at me and-"<p>

Edward's voice cracked as he relived the memory of that night.

"And that's when he killed me. Well not entirely. You see, Jared really was a vampire and a cocky one too. He bit me and threw me to the ground, leaving me to die except that Jared was too cocky for his own good. You see, I was dying but what he did to me did not me kill me all the way. Instead it started what would the most physical pain I had ever experienced. My body felt like it was sinking into the fiery depths of hell. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. I finally blacked out from the pain what felt like an eternity later and woke up in a new place all together. There was a group of people standing around me, around the bed I had been moved to. The man closest to me, Carlisle, started to tell me that I had been changed. He pulled out a mirror and showed me a reflection of what looked like me but with deep scarlet red eyes. '_You can't return to your old life. You must start a new one, here with my family if you'd like,'_ he explained and gestured to the other people surrounding me; Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice,"

"Alice and Jasper?" I asked, having calmed down a bit.

"Yes they have been changed too. Bella I wanted so much to tell you everything. I wanted to talk to you again. I saw everything as it unfolded after that night. It was gruesome, seeing you deal with my disappearance and watching you cry. I fought with Carlisle a lot, trying so desperately to get him to let me talk to you but he said we couldn't be together. I was a monster now and you deserved a better life. So we moved away, and I convinced Alice to check in on you every couple of months, just to be sure you were alright. But when Alice came to check on you, she came back with news. She told the family that she had seen you with a vampire with violet eyes,"

I held up my hand.

"Hold on. This whole thing about the eyes confuses me. What does eye color mean when you're a vampire?"

Edward pointed up to his eyes.

"When you first change, your eyes are red because as Carlisle explained it, you still have all the human blood filtering out of your system. It's inevitable. After about a couple months, to a year though, they slowly start to change based on your diet,"

He paused and I knew he was waiting for the inevitable question.

"How would that play into it? What have you been feeding on…?"

"Unfortunately most of our kind does follow the cliché and continues to feed on the blood of the living, their eyes giving off a menacing scarlet color,"

I studied his eyes.

"But yours are golden?"

Edward chuckled at some internal joke.

"Yes because I don't feed on people. I'm what you would call the vegetarian of my kind. I stay strictly to animals,"

I could feel some kind of relief sweep over me.

"So why was it bad that Jared had violet eyes?" I inquired.

"You see, contacts do help some of us blend in but they don't totally disguise all of the color in our eyes. The acid in our eyes eats away through part of the contacts so that two colors mix. Jared's eyes were red and he wore blue contacts so that made violet. We were all concerned that you were entertaining the company of some carnivorous vampire so the family agreed to move back for a bit and get a hold of the situation. I stayed hidden since I was supposed to still be dead. Alice and Jasper enrolled in class and agreed to get to the bottom of the situation.

However, Jared seemed to figure out in an instant what was going on. We were onto him and he was suspicious of us. We knew you were in danger and that we needed to get you away from him so Alice agreed to invite you to hang out. We were going to get you somewhere safe and tell you everything.

When you didn't show up for the night, we knew something was wrong. Alice, Jasper and I went out looking for you. We stopped by the house and saw the last call was from Jared not too long before we had gotten there. We raced around trying to find you. We didn't even realize he had gotten Charlie…"

A jolt of pain reverberated through my chest. Charlie had been so innocent. He had gotten mixed in this because of me.

Edward seemed to realize my thought process and kissed my forehead.

"Love, I'm so sorry but it's not your fault. He was a victim to Jared's plan,"

I jumped out of the bed, pain shooting all throughout me. Edward attempted to pull me back but I swayed out his grasp. I paced to the other side of the room and turned to face him. Beside him, the sky revealed the hues of a soon to be rising sun.

"So I know what happened afterwards but what the hell does that mean? Charlie is dead. Everyone thinks you're dead which honestly I'm still a bit confused on and now Jared has disappeared. People are gonna notice that all these people are missing. Where does that leave me?"

Edward stared me down. He looked so sad and he stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"Bella, there's something else I need to tell you,"

"What else could there be that I don't know?" I demanded.

Edward got up and slowly, step by step, made his way over to where I was standing.

"When we found you, Bella, you were crumpled around on the ground,"

He paused again but I was growing impatient.

"_And_?"

"Love, he had bitten you,"

"What?" My voice was just above a whisper.

"By the time we got to you, he had already bitten you and you were undergoing the transformation. There was nothing we could do,"

I lifted my hands and started examining them in the dim light. They didn't feel or really look any different.

"So. I'm a..A vampire, now?"

Edward took my right hand and clenched it between both of his. He knelt down in front of me, still holding onto it. His golden eyes pierced into mine.

"Yes but I will be there for you every step of the way," He switched around his grip so his right hand was free. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small, delicate, leather box.

"Two years ago, on that night, I had this in my pocket to give to you as a promise that although we were too young to get married, it would be my promise to you that one day we would. For two years I was in despair as I was forced to live a life without you and although I would have chosen our reunion to be under different circumstances, I am still grateful to have the love of my life back,"

He popped open the box to show a delicate ring with an infinity symbol that had small stones encrusted in it.

"I have carried this with me ever since that night. Isabella Swan, will you spend the rest of eternity by my side?"

I was a mess of emotions. This was all so much to take in such a short amount of time. There was only one thing I was entirely sure of at this moment. I was still totally and completely in love with Edward and never wanted to be apart from him again.

"Yes, for now and forever,"

He slid the ring on my finger, catching the rays of the breaking dawn. I gasped at the effect.

The ring reflecting sparkles but not my whole hand was aglow as was Edward. He was glowing in the sun as he gave me my favorite crooked smile. He rose onto his feet and pulled me to him. We kissed as the sun set the whole room aglow from our intertwined bodies.

Minutes later we paused, pressed our foreheads together and gazed into each other's eyes.

It was the start of a new beginning and although there was much to figure out and I had no idea what the future held, I did know this;

I had the love of my life back. Edward and I might not have a clue what we were going to do next but we had each other. We would face the world together, hand in hand for the rest of eternity.

**Sooo finally it comes to an official end. This last chapter took so long for me to write because yes, I am constantly busy/lazy but also because I could never seem to decide on an ending. It was hard but this one incorporates most of what I originally had planned. To any of you guy who actually read the whole story, I applaud you. I hope to try and start another story sometime in the near future so I hope to have some of you join me for that journey too. Until then! **

**-Selina**


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